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# A GEOGRAPHICAL AND fflSTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 
PLACES MENTIONED IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. . 

IN TWO FAETS. 

PART I. GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL I EXTENDING FROM THE 

CREATION OF THE WORLD TO THE FINAL SETTLEMENT ♦ 

OF THE ISRAELITES IN THE LAND OF CANAAN. 

PART II. A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE I CONTAIN 

ING, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, A DESCRIPTION OF THE 

PLACES MENTIONED IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

ACCOMPANIED BY THREE MAPS. 

I. Eastern countries, as mentioned by Moses. — II. Judea, or the Holy 
Land.— III. Countries mentioned in the New Testament. — And embellish- 
ed with nearly one hundred engravings, illustrative of the heathen deities, 
of nations and countries mentioned in Scripture, and of the subsequent 
history and present state of those countries. 

INTENDED FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES AND SCHOOLS, 

- . 

BY THOMAS T. SMILEY, A. M., M. D. 



,( Go through the land and describe it:— and the men went through the land, 
and described it by cities, in a book." — Josh, xviii. 8, 9, 



PHILADELPHIA. 
1837. 






Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 2831, by 
Thomas T. Smiley, in the clerk's office of the district court for the 
eastern district of Pennsylvania. 

Gift 
Judge and Mrs. Isaac ft.HH* 
July 3, 1933 



tfil 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



From Roberts Faux, Esq., President of the Pennsylvania Education Society 

It affords me pleasure, whilst I regard it a duty, to confess how much I 
feel indebted to Dr. Smiley for his compendious " Scripture Geography," a 
volume, the composition of which is the result of great research into vari 
oiis and rare authorities in this department of knowledge, that are acces 
sible to very few persons. The Holy Scriptures will be rendered more 
intelligible and interesting after the perusal of this work, the whole scope 
of which seems to me to be eminently calculated, to give " energy to virtue, 
and confidence to truth" Every class of readers may derive instruction 
from its pages, and it will be especially valuable in all sehools for the right 
education of youth. 

ROBERTS VAUX. 



From the Christian Index, edited by the Rev. Dr. Brantly. 

" The prof essions of the title-page are ably sustained, in the subsequent 
pages of the work. The matter is abundant, judiciously arranged, and 
clearly set forth. The Scripture Geography should be at once introduced 
into all families, and schools, and its contents well digested by young and 
old. Any book containing Geographical allusions cannot be understood 
without a knowledge of the places referred to. Dr. Smiley is already well 
known as the author of a most useful general Geography. 



The following are among the numerous subscribers to 
the work. 



Rev. Ezra Stiles Ely, D.D. Philada. 

Stephen H. Tyng, D.D. 

Michael Hurley, D.D. 

- John Hughes, 

H. Bibighaus, 

T. J. Kitts, 

T. Dasilva, 

Joseph H. Kennard, 

William Bryant, 

Keiley, 

S. G. Winchester, 

George Boyd, 

Charles Pitman, 

William Berrian,D.D. N. York 

James Milnor, D.D. 

Thomas Dewitt, 

J. L. Broadhead, D.D. 

Samuel H. Cox, D.D. 

William Creighton, D.D. 

E. W. Baldwin, 

D. E. Lansing, D.D. 

J. M. Forbes, 

D. Dunbar, 

John Knox, 

William Parkinson, 

P. Williams, 

C. T. Demarest, 



Rev. J. Harrison, N. York. 

Mr. Johnson, " 

L. P. Bayard, 

F. W. Geisenhaimer, " 

John Middleton, 

Albert Smedes, 

James Hayborn, 

William George Miller, " 

William Tappan, 

William A. Van Vleck, " 

J. A. Schueller, 

H. H. Taylor, " 

B. Piteher, " 

Jonathan Power, D.D. " 

Heman Norton, " 

Robert M'Cartee, D.D. " 

Michael Lacoste, u 

E. W. Griswold, 

C. G. Sommers, " 

W. C. Brownlee, " 

R. T. Studdart, 

C. Baldwin, 

F. M. Kip, 

James A. Yard, Trenton, N.J. 

Thos. J. Thompson, " " 

R. M. Greenbank, Centerville, 

Maryland. 



* t 



PREFACE. 



The importance of a proper acquaintance with the geogra 
phy of countries and places mentioned in the Holy Bible, must 
be apparent to all who have " diligently searched the Scrip- 
tures," with a view to a thorough and proper understanding 
of them. It is believed that many have neglected the sacred 
volume, and have never attained a necessary knowledge of its 
contents, not because they are infidels, or that they are aban- 
doned to vice, nor indeed that they have any specific objection, 
but because the Scriptures appear unintelligible. They read 
of Moab and Edom, of Canaan and Mesopotamia, of Cush and 
Mizraim ; they search their geographies for information, but 
find nothing to satisfy their inquiries. They are unable to 
associate the historical record of events with time and place, 
and thus their interest in the Bible history is lost, as well as 
that sensible conviction of its veracity impaired, which in a 
great measure depends upon a familiar acquaintance with the 
geography of the countries where those events occurred. It 
is not strange, therefore, that to such readers the sacred his- 
tory should become dull or tedious. Not only the interest and 
pleasure of the reader, but also his confidence is increased, by 
learning the character and situation of the places of which 
he reads. It may also be remarked, that in describing the an- 
cient and modern state of many of these places, the most ex- 
act fulfilment of prophecy is spontaneously apparent. The 
present state of Tyre, of Babylon, of Jerusalem, and many 
others of which we have prophecies recorded, offers sufficient 
proof of the sublime truths of divine revelation, to overthrow 
the objections of the sceptic, and abundantly to confirm tho 
faith of the believer. 

A2 



Vi PREFACE. 

The plan and arrangement of the work may appear some- 
what novel, but it is that which has been chosen after mature 
deliberation, as best adapted to the nature of the subject. In 
Part I. the chain of Scripture history is pursued until the final 
settlement of the Israelites in the promised land ; with such 
geographical notice of the places mentioned, as was thought 
necessary to the full understanding of the subject. Particular 
care has been taken to describe the different settlements of 
the immediate posterity of Noah, as this was deemed impor- 
tant, in order to elucidate many circumstances relating to the 
names and early history of different countries. It will be 
found, upon examination, that most countries and cities in the 
early ages of the world, were named from the families or per- 
sons by whom they were first peopled or founded ; and also 
that colonies settled in remote regions, frequently retained the 
name of the parent state. A want of attention to these gene- 
ral facts has caused much obscurity and confusion in ancient 
geography. These considerations have induced us to give 
the introductory part of this work its historical form, and it is 
believed that the attentive and judicious reader will be sen- 
sible of its advantages. 

In Part II. will be found, in alphabetical order, as full an 
account of the places mentioned in Scripture as the limits of 
our work would admit ; and, in addition to the geographical 
description, such events in their history have been given, as 
were thought necessary to a more full and complete under- 
standing of the sacred volume. 

The engravings which are given in the work, of ancient 
coins, medals, and sculptures, we consider of great importance 
in confirmation of many passages in Scripture history. These 
will be found a source of information almost wholly new, but 
capable of the greatest services. They are the oldest, most 
genuine, and often the most extensive memoranda extant ; and 
may generally be relied on as having been composed while 
events were fresh, and having suffered nothing by the errors 
of transcription, to which all written records are liable, while 
these unimpeachable witnesses have been preserved to us 



PREFACE. VU 

unchanged, notwithstanding the lapse 01 nearly two thousand 
years. 

Some may not immediately perceive the force and cogency 
of the proofs aflbrded by these medallic illustrations, from the 
want of proper examination, or understanding of the subject. 
But when they find the "goddess of the Sidonians" of Scrip- 
ture, represented on the medals of Sidon; and the Ashtaroth 
of the Scriptures, who was doubtless the Astarte or Venus 
of the Greeks, on those of many towns in the Holy Land, 
they will find that by these antiquities they will obtain more 
correct notions of the deities of the ancient nations, and the 
objects of their worship. We find also Anammelech, " the 
king of clouds" of the Sepharvaites in Persia ; also the most 
undeniable proof of the propriety of Daniel's representation 
of the kingdoms of Persia and Macedonia, by the figures of a 
ram and a single-horned goat, which were actually the na- 
tional symbols of those kingdoms. Many others will be found 
of equal importance, and it is confidently believed that those 
who will give the subject due attention, will perceive the 
force of these illustrations, and acknowledge their value. If 
the reader find in the goat of Macedonia, or the ram of Persia, 
that determinate illustration of the prophecies of Daniel, 
which he never before received ; if he perceive in the medals 
of Jerusalem a proof of the idolatry practised in the holy 
places, the history of its destruction by Titus, and the fulfil- 
ment of our Saviour's prophecies concerning it, fully confirm- 
ed, he will doubtless acknowledge that these proofs have their 
advantages, and that an acquaintance with them is proper for 
those who understand the duty of being able to support, by a 
ready answer, the hope that is in them. 

Another remark may be made of these coins and medals, 
of no small importance to the Christian. A sufficient num- 
ber is given of those belonging to the cities in and near Ju- 
dea, all of which bear Greek inscriptions, to prove that at the 
time when the New Testament was written, Greek was the 
prevailing language throughout the country. For it is not to be 
supposed that these cities would have adopted Greek inscrip- 



VIII PREFACE. 

tions on their coins unless they understood them, and unless 
the language had been current, and even prevalent. This jus- 
tifies the gospel writers in communicating their information 
in a language generally understood. 

It yet remains to say something respecting the sources from 
which the materials of this work have been derived. To the 
Sacred Geography of Dr. Wells we are largely indebted ; and 
the works of the learned Calmet have afforded valuable aid. 
Much authentic information has also been derived from the 
work of Eusebius, entitled, Onomasticon Urbium et Locorum 
Sacra Scripturce, tyc. written in Greek in the fourth century, 
and afterwards translated into Latin and improved by St. Je- 
rom. The best Scripture gazetteers have been consulted, 
among which is the invaluable work of Mansford, recently 
published in England. We have also drawn from the most 
authentic commentators, and from such Geographies and 
Travels as afforded useful information upon our subject. Lem- 
priere, D' Anville, and many other writers, have been carefully 
examined, and no labour of investigation has been spared to 
collect the best authorities and the most authentic information. 

The author cannot conclude without the expression of his 
warmest acknowledgments to such of his friends as have 
kindly afforded him the use of rare and expensive works, 
from which important information has been derived. But his 
thanks are more especially due to his friend Charles B. Tre- 
go, Esq. for much valuable assistance in compiling this work, 
the plan of which was laid several years ago, and as much 
progress made in it from time to time, as intervals of com- 
parative leisure from more pressing pursuits would permit ; 
though, without the aid of his highly important services, a 
much longer period must have elapsed before it could have 
been presented to the public. 

Philadelphia, June, 1834. 




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SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY 



• 



^ART I. 

Geographical and Historical : extending from the Creation 
of the World to the final settlement of the Israelites in the 
land of Canaan. 



CHAPTER I. 

ANTEDILUVIAN GEOGRAPHY. 



Our knowledge of the antediluvian world is limited to very 
narrow bounds, owing to the extreme brevity of Scripture in 
relating the events which occurred before the deluge. This 
conciseness in the history has prevented any extended geo- 
graphical account of the places where those events occurred ; 
there being no mention of any excepting the Garden of Eden, 
with the Rivers which determine its situation ; the Land of 
Nod, and the city of Enoch, which Cain built therein. With 
regard to the situation of these places, we must in the begin- 
ning acknowledge that considerable uncertainty exists ; and 
that, though many pious and learned men have examined, with 
great diligence and attention, all the existing sources of in- 
formation, yet their opinions and conclusions are various, and 
even sometimes contradictory. In such cases we shall consi- 
der it our duty to designate that which we conceive to be the 
most satisfactory decision, and leave the reader to form his 
own opinion from proper investigation of the subject. 

1. The situation of the Garden of Eden. 

The name Eden, in Hebrew, signifies bliss, pleasure, or 
delight ; and as this place was remarkable as the residence of 
our first parents, in their state of innocence and happiness, its 



10 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPH 

situation is particularly denoted by the sacred historian as 
lying eastward, and having a river going out of il, which from 
thence was parted and became into four heads. By the term 
eastward, Moses probably means that it was situated eastward 
from the place where he then wrote, i. e. from the Land of 
Canaan or its vicinity. But this is very general and indefinite ; 
for it may apply to any of the countries east of the Land of 
Canaan. It is then to the rivers that we must look for data 
upon which to found a conclusion respecting the location of 
Eden. These rivers were four, namely, the Pison, the Gihon, 
the Hiddekel, and the Euphrates. 

I. The Pison, we are told, "compasses the whole land of 
Chavila, or Havilah, where there is gold ; and the gold of that 
land is good : there is bdellium and the onyx-stone." Some 
have supposed this land of Chavila to be the present Cabul, a 
country between Persia and Hindostan ; and the Pison to be 
one of the rivers falling into the Indus from the west, as gold 
and precious stones are known to exist in that region. The 
Gihon they suppose to be the western branch of the Oxus, 
now called Jihon : and the Hiddekel the eastern branch of the 
samej both of which unite near Balk, a city in the eastern 
part of the Persian dominions. The Euphrates, written in 
Hebrew Phralh or Perath, they suppose to be the Hirmend, 
or Hindmend. According to this theory, then, Eden must have 
been situated somewhere in the eastern part of the Persian 
empire, or in the country now called Cabulistan, between Per- 
sia and Hindostan. 

II. The learned Huetius and others suppose Eden to have 
been placed in the southern part of Babylonia, not far from 
the Persian Gulf, where they conjecture that the Tigris and 
Euphrates joined, and afterwards separated; consequently 
there were two rivers above and two below that junction, 
making the four mentioned by Moses. But this certainly does 
not well answer the description given in Scripture, and this 
conjecture is also liable to other objections. 

III. The most probable idea concerning the situation of 
Eden, we conceive to be, that it was placed in or near Arme- 
nia ; because, 

1. We have the name of a river which flowed from Eden, 
Euphrates, which name has continued almost unchanged to 
the present day. This river has its source in the mountains 
of Armenia, near lake Arsissa. There are two streams at 
first flowing westward, but after their junction near Mount 



SITUATION OF THE GARDEN Of EDEN. 11 

Taurus, turning to the south-west, the river receives a smaller 
stream, and flows towards the Mediterranean; but coming 
near the Caucasian mountains, it is turned to the south-east, 
and at length joining the Tigris, it empties into the Persian 
Gulf by several mouths. 

2. The Hiddekel is generally agreed by historians to be the 
Tigris. The prophet Daniel also says he had a vision "in 
Babylonia, by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel." 
Now by the " great river," he must mean the Tigris, as it was 
the only great river in Babylonia, except the Euphrates. The 
Tigris rises near the head of the Euphrates, and pursuing a 
south-easterly direction, divides Assyria from Mesopotamia. 
And we are told (Gen. ii. 14, margin) that the Hiddekel goeth 
eastward to Assyria. Therefore, we consider there can be 
little doubt as to the identity of the two rivers. 

3. The Pison is more difficult to determine, but has been 
generally taken to be the Phasis, or Absarus of the ancients, 
now called Batoum, which empties into the Euxine or Black 
Sea. The Havilah, which was encompassed by this river, 
was probably Colchis, between the Euxine and the Caspian. 
This region was celebrated among the ancients for the abun- 
dance and excellence of its gold. It must, however, be borne 
in mind, that there was another Havilah, in Arabia, different 
from this country, and of which we shall speak in another 
place. 

4. The Gihon, which is said to have compassed the whole 
land of Ethiopia. The Hebrew word, here translated Ethio- 
pia, is Cush, which was a term used to designate several re- 
gions in Asia, and one in Africa. (See Cush, Part II. of this 
work.) Now, as the Cush here mentioned could be neither 
in Africa nor Arabia, we must suppose it was either in Assy- 
ria west of the Caspian, or in Bactria east of the Oxus or Ji- 
hon, both of which countries were settled by the descendants 
of Cush. According to the first supposition, the Gihon may 
be the river Kerah, called by the Greeks Gyndus, which is 
possibly a corruption of the name Gihon. But it is more ge- 
nerally believed that the Gihon was the Oxus, yet called in 
that country Jihon. 

All reasoning upon the subject of the situation of Eden 
must, however, be vague, and all conclusions naturally ap- 
pear unsatisfactory, when we reflect that as the surface of the 
earth must have been convulsed and broken up by the univer- 
sal deluge, so the course of the rivers must have been, in 



12 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

many instances, greatly, if not entirely, altered; and that 
many other changes in the face of the country would be the 
natural and obvious consequence of the general desolation 
produced by that awful visitation of the Deity upon a guilty 
world. It is also possible that God chose to blot out this beau- 
tiful spot from his creation, after the expulsion of our first 
parents from the garden, and so destroy both the scene and 
the memorial of man's transgression. 

II. The Land of Nod, and the City of Enoch. 

The land of Nod, in which Cain is said to have dwelt after 
he had been cursed for the murder of Abel, if it mean a 
country, was situated on the east of Eden ; or as some trans- 
lators render it, before or over-against Eden ; meaning that 
Cain removed no further from Eden than he was compelled, 
and that he remained not far from it. There is, however, a 
strong presumption that the original meaning of this term 
was not any particular country, but merely descriptive of the 
state of Cain after his exile. The expression of the Samari- 
tan version of the Old Testament is Nad, a vagabond or trem- 
bler in the land, and the Hebrew word in our Bible will bear 
the same meaning, as may be seen by reference to the mar- 
gin in Gen. iv. 16. And even if taken as the name of a region 
of country, Nod imports wandering, exile, wildness, or 
the wilds, in allusion to the unsettled and wandering state of 
the unhappy fugitive. 

With regard to the situation of the city of Enoch, which 
Cain built, nothing is known with any degree of certainty 



CHAPTER II. 

FROM THE DELUGE TO THE BUILDING OP BABEL, AND THE 
CONFUSION OF TONGUES. 

I. The Country and Mountains of Ararat. 

There is no mention in Scripture of any particular place 
during the continuance of the flood ; we are only told of the 
general prevalence of the waters, their depth on the moun- 
tains, and of their gradual subsiding, until the Ark rested upon 
the mountains of Ararat. Gen. viii. 4. 

The country of Ararat has been generally admitted to be 
in Persian Armenia, west of the Caspian Sea, in which re- 




THE LAND OF SHINAR. 13 

is situated the city now called Erivan, In the north- 
east part of Armenia are lofty mountains, and upon one of 
these, called Mount Masis, and by the Turks Agridah, it is 
supposed the Ark rested. It has two peaks, distinguished by 
the names Greater and Lesser Ararat The height of this 
mountain is said to be not less than 15,000 feet : it is covered 
with snow and ice, and may be distinguished at a distance of 
nearly 200 miles. It has been visited by modern travellers, 
but its summit has proved inaccessible. Some years ago, a 
large reward was offered by the Turkish governor of Beyazid 
to any one who should reach the top; but though many of the 
natives who lived at the foot of the mountain have made the 
attempt, they have always failed to reach the summit, which 
it is probable has never been visited by a human being since 
the days of Noah. 

There is, however, an expression in Scripture which seems 
to lead to a ^contrary conclusion from that which places the 
mountains of Ararat in Armenia. We read (Gen. xi. 2.) 
that as mankind journeyed from the east, they found a plain 
in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Now Armenia 
is not east, but very far north of Shinar, and indeed somewhat 
to the west, so that this journey could not have been from the 
direction of Armenia. Inquiries have therefore been made to 
discover the mountains of Ararat in some country to the east 
of Shinar; and some, relying on ancient traditions, have 
placed Ararat in the mountainous region between India and 
Persia, not far from the sources of the Indus, on whose banks 
the traditions and sacred books of the Hindoos affirm that 
Noah lived for some time after the flood. The mountain Arya- 
varta or Aryawart certainly has some affinity in name to the 
Hebrew Araraut, and these mountains were far east from the 
plain of Shinar, as the expression in Genesis would seem to 
imply. Still we think it most probable that, after all, Ararat 
was in Armenia; and that when the posterity of Noah, or a 
part of them, left Armenia, they first went eastward towards 
the Caspian Sea, then south-eastward, and finally westward 
to Shinar. 

II. The Land of Shinar, and the Cities built there. 

We are now naturally led to inquire into the situation of 
the land of Shinar, where the famous tower of Babel was 
begun ; where the language of mankind was confounded, and 

B 



14 * SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

from whence they were scattered abroad upon the face of alJ 
the earth. 

The land of Shinar, or Singar, was certainly the same 
afterwards called Babylonia or Chaldea, being a considerable 
extent of level country through which flow the Tigris and 
the Euphrates, and probably extending so far north as to in- 
clude a part of Mesopotamia. In the northern part of this 
great plain or valley, in Mesopotamia near the Tigris, a city 
is mentioned by ancient writers called Singara, and a moun- 
tain called Singaras, which agree very nearly with the 
Hebrew Singar or Shinar. Babel and Erech both lay in the 
land of Shinar : Babel we know to be the same as Babylon, 
and Erech was on the east of the Tigris ; hence it is manifest 
that Shinar extended on both sides of the Tigris. 

1. The City and Tower of Babel— -The tower of Babel 
was begun probably in the very place, or at least in the im- 
mediate neighbourhood, where the city of Babylon afterwards 
stood, i. e. on the Euphrates at some distance above its junc- 
tion with the Tigris. It is not likely that Noah, or his sons 
Shem and Japhet, and possibly Ham, were concerned in 
building the tower, but probably opposed it ; so that those who 
undertook it had withdrawn themselves and chose a place at 
some distance from the seat of Noah and the patriarchs. 

The design of this mighty edifice seems to have been to 
make themselves a name, or render themselves famous to 
posterity. Gen. xi. 4. They seem also to have foreseen that 
they would have to separate and scatter abroad upon the earth, 
and possibly might therefore have intended the tower as a 
memorial of their union, or a rallying point after their 
separation. But Divine Providence chose this very occasion 
to separate and scatter them, which was done by confounding 
their language, so that they could no longer understand or 
communicate their thoughts to one another. 

For an account of the city of Babel, afterwards called 
Babylon, founded by Nimrod in the land of Shinar, probably 
upon the ruins of the tower of Babel, the reader is referred 
to Part II. Article Babylon. 

2. Erech, Accad, and Calneh. — Erech was another of the 
cities which made the foundation of the kingdom of Nimrod 
in the land of Shinar. It was called by the Greeks Erecca, 
or Arecca, and according to Ptolemy, the Greek geographer, 
was situated at the most southern bend of the common chan- 

ii of the Tigris and Euphrates. The Archevites, of when! 



SETTLEMENT OF THE EARTH. 15 

we read in Ezra iv. 9. are supposed to have been inhabitants 
of this place, brought by the king of Assyria to colonize 
Samaria. 

But little is known concerning the situation of Accad. 
The name is sometimes written Arehad, which probably gave 
name to the river Argades, mentioned by some Greek writers 
as being near Sittace, on the east of the Tigris. A region 
is also spoken of by Strabo, called Artaeene, lying about Ar- 
bela, which might also probably derive its name from Arehad, 
A ruin is also found not far from Bagdad, called Akar-kouff, 
which is supposed by some to mark the place where Achad 
formerly stood. 

Calneh is the last mentioned of the cities in the land of 
Shinar, belonging to the kingdom of Nimrod. This place is 
also called Calno (Isa. x. 9.) and Canneh (Ezek. xxvii. 23.) 
It seems to have been a considerable place in the time of the 
prophet Amos, as he compares it with other places of some 
note ; as does also Isaiah, as above. Calneh was situated upon 
the Tigris, and was called Ctesiphon by the Greeks; the 
country about it being called Chalonitis, evidently derived 
from Chalneh, Chalno, or Chalone. It is said that Pacorus, a 
king of the Parthians, changed the name of the city to Cte- 
siphon. 

Of Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah and Resen, cities built by 
Asshur, or by Nimrod, in Assyria, we shall speak in their 
proper places in Part IL of this work. 



CHAPTER IH. 

SETTLEMENT OP THE EARTH BY THE SONS OP NOAH AND 
THEIR POSTERITY. 

It is evident from the words of the sacred historian, that 
when the earth was repeopled after the flood, the first settle- 
ments were made after a regular manner. He says, after 
enumerating the sons of Japhet, ** by these were the isles of 
the Gentiles divided in their lands, every one after his tongue, 
after their families, in their nations." (Gen. xv.) In the same 
manner he concludes his account of the sons of Ham, and of 
Shem. Thus we see they were ranged, first according to 
their nations, and next every nation was ranged by its fami- 
lies ; so that every nation had its separate allotment, and in 
every nation the families dwelt and had their separate allot- 



16 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

ments. This we think is the meaning of the text, " accord- 
ing to their families, in their lands, in their nations." 

Though the order in which the sons of Noah are mentioned, 
Gen. v. 32, and in other passages of Scripture, k Shem, Ham* 
and Japhet, yet it is evident from Gen. ix. 22. 24. that Ham 
was the youngest son of Noah, and it also appears (Gen. x» 
21.) that Japhet was the eldest. In the Seripture account, 
however, of these patriarchs and their families, Japhet is first 
mentioned, next Ham, and lastly Shem. 

We shall now proceed to give an account of the division 
of the earth among the posterity of Noah, It should be 
recollected that in these, primitive times, countries were 
generally named from their first settlers, and nations from 
their founder, or the head of the family from which they de^ 
scended. 

L. Descendants of Japhet. 

The sons of Japhet were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Java**, 
Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. Of these seven nations, only the 
families of two are mentioned, viz. those of Gomer and Ja- 
van. The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and To- 
garmah : the sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kitting 
and Dodanim. 

I. Settlements of Gomer and Ms family. 

The nation of Gomer appears to have been established in 
the northern part of Lesser Asia. Josephus says that the 
Galatians, who lived about the southern shore of the Euxine 
or Black Sea, were called Gomerites. From this name also 
is probably derived that of the Kimmerii, or Cimmerii, who 
dwelt about these parts, and of Cimmeris, a town in Phry- 
gia. From this region Gomer is believed to have spread 
abroad into Europe, peopling the countries along the Danube, 
and thence westward into Germany, France, &c. 

1. Ashkenaz, the son of Gomer, was seated in the western 
part of the nation of Gomer, which was the north-west of 
Asia Minor. In Troas, or Lesser Phrygia, was both a city 
and province anciently called Ascania> and the islands along 
the coast were called Ascanian isles ; also in Bithynia is a 
bay, a river, and a lake, called likewise Ascanian, which 
name is very probably derived from Ashkenaz. The learned 
Bochart conjectures that the Black Sea, formerly and some- 
times yet called the Euxine, was in early ages called the sea 
of Ashkenaz, from the settlement of that family on its coast 



DESCENDANTS OF JAPHET. 17 

Hence by the Greeks it was first named Pontus Axenus, in- 
stead of Pontus Ashkenas, and thence Pontus Euxinus. 

2. Riphath, the second son of Gomer, probably settled east 
of his brother Ashkenaz. For, according to Josephus, the 
Paphlagonians, a people inhabiting the country south-east of 
the Euxine, were originally called Riphateans, from Riphat. 
Pliny also mentions a people called Riphsei, who lived there, 
and another called ArimphseL It has, however, been sup- 
posed by some, that the Riphsean mountains, mentioned by 
the Romans, and situated in the country north of the Black 
Sea, received their name from Riphath. 

3. Togarmah, the third and last mentioned son of Gomer, 
appears to have had his portion still further east than his 
brethren ; L e. in Armenia. Very ancient records preserved 
in some monasteries in the east, speak of a man named Tar- 
gamos, who dwelt in a fortress on Mount Ararat, and lived 
to the age of six hundred years ; being the father of eight 
sons, from whom, it is stated, are descended the people of 
Armenia, and other nations about the Caucasian mountains. 
Ezekiel speaks of the "house of Togarmah of the north 
quarters, and all his bands." (Ezek. xxxviii. 6.) This, with 
some other considerations, have induced some learned com- 
mentators to place Togarmah in Cappadocia rather than Ar- 
menia. 

II. Settlement of Magog, Son ofJaphet. 

According to Josephus, Jerom, and other writers, Magog 
was the father of the Scythians, on the east and north-east 
of the Euxine. Strabo and Stephanus both r lention a coun- 
try situated in these parts, called Gogarene ; and it is not im- 
probable that Georgia, the modern name of this country, may 
have been derived in like manner from Gog ; the people being 
called Georgi, from Gorgeni or Gogeni. But the best evi- 
dence of the situation of the country of Magog is contained 
in the Scripture itself, (Ezek. xxxviii. 2.) " Set thy face 
against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Me- 
shech, and Tubal." From this we learn that the land of Ma- 
gog must be near that of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, the 
situation of which is known; and if near them, it could only 
be on the north of them. 

III. Country of Madai, Son ofJaphet. 

It is the general opinion of writers on this subject, that 
Madai was the father of the Medes, and consequently must 
have settled in the country about the south and south-west 
B2 



18 SCRIPT UP E GEOGRAPHY. 

of the Caspian Sea, afterwards called Media. The ground 
for this location of Madai is, that the Medes are called Madai 
in the Hebrew text of Scripture. 

But some learned commentators have been of a different 
opinion. They consider that as Media lay far north-east of 
the Holy Land, and of Egypt, and as the passage from one to 
the other was by land and not by sea, consequently Media can- 
not well be considered as being comprehended under the term 
" isles of the Gentiles," which the sacred historian says were 
peopled by the posterity of Japhet. Moreover, the situation 
of Media seems to indicate that if originally possessed by Ma- 
dai, he must have been widely separated from the rest of his 
brethren, and to have lain within the lot of Shem, instead of 
the general lot of his father Japhet. There was a descendant 
of Shem, called also Madai, and from him the Medes probably 
derived their origin and name. 

In order to trace the descendants of Madai, the son of Ja- 
phet, within the bounds of his father's allotment, the learned 
Mr. Mode supposes we must look to Macedonia, the ancient 
name of which was iEmathia, Aimathia, or Aimadia. A peo- 
ple in this country were also called Medi, or Mcedi ; all which 
names may have been originally derived from Madai. 

IV. The Country of Javan and his family. 
- The nation of Javan was first seated in the southern part 
of Asia Minor, as appears not only from the name of a coun- 
try here called Ionia, but also from the four families of Javan's 
sons Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim, who were all 
settled in this region. The name Ionia is derived from Javan, 
which is also written in Hebrew Ion and lowan, by the LXX. 
and by Josephus. Javan is the term used in the Old Testa- 
ment for Greece and the Greeks. 

1. Elishah, the son of Javan. This name in the Samaritan 
is written Elish or Elis, and in the Chaldee Alas, which near- 
ly approaches Hellas, the name which the Greeks called their 
own country : according to Josephus, Eolia was named from 
Elishah. The Eolians were anciently settled northward from 
the possessions of' Javan,. and hence we may conclude that 
Elishah was established to the north of his father. The pos- 
terity of Elishah probably afterwards possessed themselves of 
the islands in the Egean Sea,, between Asia and Europe, call- 
ed in Ezekiel, (chap, xxvii. 7.) the isles of Elisha. These 
people passing afterwards into Europe, were called Hellenes, 
and their country Hellas, which afterwards became a general 



DESCENDANTS OF JAPHET. 19 

term for the whole of Greece. The city and province of Elis, 
the city of Eleusis, and the river Elissus or Ilissus, are all pro- 
bably derived from Elish, or Elisha. 

2. Tarshish, the son of Javan, was probably settled on the 
eastern part of the southern coast of Asia Minor. Josephus 
says that Tarsus, the chief city of Cilicia, was founded by 
Tarshish, and that the province of Cilicia itself was ancient- 
ly called Tarshish. This is conjectured to be the place to 
which Jonah thought to flee from the presence of the Lord. 
(Jon. i. 3.) Tartessus, an ancient city in Spain, was probably 
built by a colony from Tarshish; for, as they were evidently 
a sea-faring and commercial people, they might easily extend 
their voyages in the Mediterranean as far as the coast of Spain. 
Indeed the whole Mediterranean seems to have been called 
the Sea of Tarshish ; though probably this name was origin- 
ally applied only to that part of it lying near Tarshish, i. e. the 
Sea of Cilicia, at the head of which Tarsus or Tarshish was 
built. See Tarshish, Part II. 

3. Kittim, having the plural Hebrew termination, probably 
means the descendants of Keth, who appear to have had their 
portion west of Tarshish. Ptolemy mentions a country here, 
called Ketis, or Cetis; and Homer speaks of a people called 
Cetii, who took their name from the river Cetius in the same 
region. Josephus says Cyprus was the seat of the Kittim, or 
Chittim ; but as it was in their neighbourhood, it was probably 
colonized by them, as the continent would naturally be peo- 
pled before the islands. The Kittim, in process of time, want- 
ing room, and finding the lower parts of Greece already set- 
tled by the descendants of Elishah and the Dodanim, probably 
coasted along the western shore of Greece to the northern 
parts, where some settled and others passed over into Italy. 
Hence it happens that we find both Macedonia and Italy de- 
noted in Scripture by the name of Chittim. (1 Mace. i. 1. also 
viii. 5, Dan. xi. 29, 30.) 

4. Dodanim, also plural in Hebrew, means the family of 
Dodan, son of Javan.. The Dodanim were settled on the coast 
south of the family of Elishah, where there was anciently a 
country called Doris, from which came the Dorians, a consi- 
derable part of the Greek nation. The name is also preserved 
in the city of Dodona. 

V. Country of Meshech. 

The possessions of Meshecli appear to have been at first 
situated east of Gomer, in part of Cappadocia and Armenia. 



20 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

The name written Meshech in our translation, is by others 
written Mosoch, and henee it seems probable that the people 
called by the Greeks Mosochi or Moschi, who inhabited these 
parts, were descendants of Mosoch or Meshech. In Armenia 
was a river and country named Rosh, and a people named 
Rhossi. These Rhossi and Moschi, who were neighbours in 
Asia, afterwards crossed into Europe,, dispersed over the vast 
empire of Russia, and their names are still preserved in those 
of the Russians and Muscovites. 

VI. Country of Tubal. 

Tubal and Meshech being frequently mentioned together in 
scripture, we may reasonably infer that they were seated ad- 
joining each other. Tubal was probably settled on the north 
of Meshech, as Josephus affirms that the Asiatic Iberians were 
descended from Tubal, and says they were originally called 
Theobeli, from Thubal or Tubal. A city is also mentioned by 
Ptolemy as situated in this region, called Thabikca, which 
may be derived from TubaL We read in scripture that these 
nations were merchants, and traded in slaves and vessels of 
brass. (Ezek. xxvii. 13.) Now this agrees well with the 
country where we have placed them ; for the regions about 
Pontus and Cappadocia were noted for slaves, and Tibarenia 
and Iberia produced excellent brass. 

VII. Country of Tiras, 

All writers agree that Tirf^ son of Japhet, was the father 
of the Thracians. Besides the evident derivation of the name 
Thrace from Thiras, the founder of the nation, we have also 
the name Athyras applied to a river* a; bay, and a haven. There 
was also in the peninsula of* Thrace a city called Tyristasis, 
a region called Thrasus, and a people called Trausi. One of 
the names of Mars, the god of the Thracians, was Thuras, 
which might have been given in honour of their founder, Thi- 
ras or Tiras. Some have supposed that the Trojans were also 
descendants of Tiras, from the similarity of Tros to Tiras ; 
and from the ancient Greeks having a tradition that the peo- 
ple east of the Hellespont and Propontis were originally Thra- 
cians. 

II. Descendants of Skem. 

There are five sons of Shem mentioned in scripture ; name- 
ly, Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. Of two of these, 
Arphaxad and Aram, the sons are designated. 



DESCENDANTS OF SHEM. 21 

I. Elam, son of Shem. 

It is considered certain that Elam was settled in the south- 
ern part of the region east of the Tigris, as the Scripture 
evidently and frequently denotes the inhabitants of that coun- 
try by the name of Elam. We also read in heathen writers 
of a country in the same place, and a city, both called Ely- 
mais. Like many other names of places, Elam is sometimes 
taken in a stricter sense, by which it is distinguished from 
Susiana and the other Persian provinces ; and sometimes in a 
more comprehensive sense, including Susiana and the other 
provinces. Thus Pliny and Ptolemy speak of the Elymsei as 
a people dwelling on the Persian Gulf; and the prophet Dan- 
iel (viii. 2.) mentions Shushan, the chief city of Susiana, as 
being situated in Elam. Elam in Scripture is used to denote 
the kingdom of Persia, until the age of Cyrus and Daniel the 
prophet ; after which time it is generally called by its Greek 
name, Persis, or Persia. 

II. Asshur, son of Shem. 

Asshur was established in the country called in the oriental 
languages after his name, Asshur ; but in the western Ian 
guages it was called Assyria, also derived from the name of 
its founder. By Assyria is here to be understood the country 
properly and originally so called, in which was the city of 
Nineveh, built by Asshur after he went out of the land of 
Shinar. (Gen. x. 1L) Some however understand this text to 
mean that Nineveh was built by Nimrod, after he went out 
into Asshur or Assyria. (See Part II. Article Assyria.) 

III. Arphaxad, son of Shem. 

It is believed that Arphaxad settled in Mesopotamia, in the 
southern part, near the Tigris, and also occupied a tract on 
the east side of the river, called Arrapachitis, a name evident- 
ly derived from Arpachshad, for so is the name written in 
the Hebrew text. 

Of the dwelling place of Salah the son, and Eber the 
grandson of Arphaxad, nothing is known with certainty ; but 
they probably remained in Mesopotamia. Eber was the fore- 
father of the Hebrews, and the father of Peleg and Joktan. 
There are thirteen sons of Joktan mentioned in Scripture, 
" and their dwelling was from Mesha as thou goest unto Se- 
phar, a moimt of the east." (Gen. x. 30.) Mesha is supposed 
to be the country which the Greeks called Mesene, near the 
head of the Persian Gulf; Sephar is supposed to lie near the 
Red Sea ; consequently, the posterity of Joktan were settled 



22 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

in Arabia. Some writers, however, do not incline to this 
opinion, but think that Mesha is a mountain in the west of 
Armenia, and Sephar another farther eastward, 

IV. Lud, the son of Shem. 

It is the general opinion that Lud peopled Lydia, a country 
in Asia Minor ; but some suppose that his descendants were 
settled in Africa, as there is a people called Lud, who lived 
here. (Isa. lxvi. 19. Jer. xlvi. 9. Ezek. xxvii. 10. xxx. 5.) 
These however probably descended from Lud, the son of Mis- 
raim, called in the plural Ludim. (Gen. x. 13.) 

V. Aram, the son of Shem. 

The portion of Aram lay in Armenia, Mesopotamia, and 
Syria ; and Armenia, or Aramenia, probably derived its name 
from Aram. The country called in the Hebrew text Aram, 
is frequently translated Syria ; but this is not to be understood 
as comprehending the whole of Syria, but only that part of it 
which belonged to the nation of Aram ; namely, the northern 
and eastern parts. Syria is, indeed, sometimes used to denote, 
not only Syria Proper, but also Mesopotamia : for instance, 
we find Jacob, who is called in the Hebrew an Aramite, is in 
our translation called a Syrian, (Hosea xii. 12.) and it was in 
Padan Aram in Mesopotamia where he " served for a wife 
and kept sheep." 

1. Uz, the son of Aram. — The ancients agree that Uz was 
the builder of the city of Damascus. From this we may 
reasonably infer that the land of Uz denoted the country 
about Damascus, including part of Arabia. This may agree 
with what is said in Scripture with regard to the dwelling of 
Job, and also of the situation of Edom, both of which are 
said to be in the land of Uz. 

2. Hul, the son of Aram. — It has been supposed that the 
settlement of Hul was in Greater Armenia, as we find there 
the names of several places containing the radical letters 
of Hul or XUhul. Cholobetene, the name of a province in Ar- 
menia, seems to have been derived from the Hebrew Cholbeth, 
i. e. the house or dwelling of Choi. Also Cholua, Choluata, 
Cholimna, &c. 

3. Gether, son of Aram. — Nothing certain is known of the 
portion of Gether. Some have conjectured that it was in 
Albania which borders on Armenia, as Ptolemy mentions a 
city of that country, formerly called Getaroe, and a river 
called Getras, both which names may possibly be derived 
from Gether or Geter. 



DESCENDANTS OF HAM. 23 

4. Meshech, or Mash, son of Aram. — Mash is supposed to 
have settled between his brothers Uz and Hul, having Hul 
to the north and Uz to the south : his portion lying about 
Mount Masius, which is thought to have been named after 
him. From this mountain runs a river of Mesopotamia, 
called Masca; and the people of this region were anciently 
called Masieni, or Masiani, from all which it may be reasona- 
bly inferred that this was the country of Mash, or Meshech, 

III. Descendants of Ham. 

As Ham was the youngest son of Noah, consequently his 
descendants formed the youngest branch of Noah's posterity : 
and may be distinguished into four nations, headed by the 
four sons of Ham ; Cush, Misraim, Phut, and Canaan. 

The sons of Cush, were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, 
and Sabtecha. Sons of Raamah, Sheba and Dedan. It is 
added afterwards that Cush begat Nimrod, " who began to be 
a mighty one in the earth," &c. 

From Misraim descended Ludim, Ananim, Lehabim, 
Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, and Casluhim. From the last came 
Philistim and Caphtorim. These, having all the plural 
Hebrew termination im, denote the families of Lud, Anan, 
Lehab, Naphtuch, Pathros, and Casluch, the sons of Misraim. 

None of the sons of Phut are mentioned in Scripture. 

From Canaan descended the following nations; namely, 
Sidon, Heth, the Jebusites, Aniorites, Girgasites, Hivites, 
Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. 

I. Cush, the son of Ham. 

It is thought that the first settlement of Cush was on the 
Gulf of Persia, in that part which still bears the name of 
Chuzestan ; from whence they spread over India and great 
part of Arabia, particularly the western part, on the coast of 
the Red Sea ; invaded Egypt under the name of Palli, Hyc- 
sos, or Shepherd Kings; and thence passed probably as well 
as by the Straits of Babelmandel, into Central Africa, and 
first peopled the countries to the south of Egypt, or African 
Ethiopia. 

It seems evident from Scripture that the family of Cush 
had made settlements in the north-west of Arabia ; for we are 
told that Moses had married a Cushite or Ethiopian woman. 
(Numb. xii. 1.) Now, from Exod. ii. 15-21. it is certain that 
Zipporah, the wife of Moses, was a Midianitish woman, and 
Midian was in Arabia, on the Red Sea. 



24 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

The word Cush in Scripture is frequently translated Ethio- 
pia, but certainly does not always mean Ethiopia in Africa ; 
though it is probable that Isaiah xviii. 1. Zeph. iii. 10. and 
2 Chron. xii. 3. do refer to African Ethiopia. (See Cush, 
Part II.) 

1. Seba, the eldest son of Cush, is thought by some, to have 
settled in the south-west of Arabia, where we find a city 
called Sabe. Others, however, place him in Nubia, on an 
island formed by the Nile and other rivers, which island was 
called by the Hebrews Seba, (Isa. xliii. 3.) and by the Romans 
Meroe. (See Part II. art. Sheba.) 

2. Havilah, the son of Cush, probably established himself 
on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf. A people are men- 
tioned by the old Greek writers as dwelling here, called 
Chaulotae, Chaulasii, or Chavelaei, a name most likely derived 
from Chavilah or Havilah. This Havilah must not be con- 
founded with a son of Joktan of the same name. (See Part 
II. art. Havilah.) 

3. Sabtah, the son of Cush, is believed by some writers to 
have settled in the north of Arabia^ on the Persian Gulf, where 
stood an ancient city called Saphtha, which might have been 
named from him. Others place him at Sabota, in Southern 
Arabia. 

4. Raamah, son of Cush, is generally allowed to have set- 
tled in South-eastern Arabia, where a city was situated, 
called Rhegma, after his name, which, though spelled Raamah 
in our translation of the Scriptures, is in other versions writ- 
ten Rhegma. 

Sheba and Dedan, the sons of Raamah, were doubtless set- 
tled not far from their father, as we find in the same region a 
city called Sabana, and another further eastward, formerly 
called Dedan, now Daden. As further proof of their being 
settled in the same neighbourhood, we find them generally 
mentioned together ; as, " The merchants of Sheba and Raa- 
mah were thy merchants." (Ezek. xxvii. 22.) " Sheba and 
Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish." (Ezek. xxxviii. 13.) 

We read in Pliny that the Sabaean nations spread them- 
selves from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Persia; but it is plain 
from this that the Greeks confounded the two families of 
Sheba and Seba, and called both by the general name of Sa- 
bseans. They are, however, distinguished from each other in 
Scripture : " The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts." 
(Psalm lxxii. 10.) 



DESCENDANTS OF HAM. 25 

5. Sabtecha, the son of Cush, probably settled among his 
orethren in the north of Arabia. 

6. Nimrod, the son of Cush. After having given an ac- 
count of the sons and grandsons of Cush, the sacred historian 
adds, " And Cush begat Nimrod, who began to be a mighty 
one on the earth." (Gen. x. 8. ) From this we may probably 
infer that he was the youngest son of Cush, but by far the 
most noted. It is probable that he was a person of great cour- 
age and activity, and having first become " a mighty hunter," 
was at length tempted to try his strength in war, and so in- 
vaded the neighbouring regions, belonging to the family of 
Arphaxad, the son of Shem. Having conquered the low er 
part of the land of Shinar, he established a kingdom there ; 
" and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and 
Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar." (Gen. x. 10.) Of 
these cities we have already spoken, in our account of the 
Land of Shinar. 

In Gen. x. 11. our translation of the Scripture reads, " Out 
of that land (the land of Shinar) went forth Asshur and built 
Nineveh ;" by which is generally understood Asshur, the son 
of Shem. But the names Asshur and Assyria being the same 
in Hebrew, the text will also read, "out of that land he went 
forth to Assyria and built Neneveh ;" meaning that Nimrod, 
after building Babel and other cities in the land of Shinar, 
went forth out of that land into Assyria, and built Nineveh. 
This reading is given in the margin of our Bible, and is sup- 
posed to be the true meaning of the Hebrew text, as Nine- 
veh was, in all probability, named after Ninus, the son of Nim- 
rod, Nin-nave in Hebrew, meaning the dwelling of Ninus. 
Of this city, and the others built by the same founder, we shall 
treat in the second part of this work, under their several 
heads. 

II. Misraim, the son of Ham. — There is no doubt with re- 
gard to the settlements of Misraim, as in Hebrew, Egypt is 
generally called the land of Misraim, or simply Misraim ; and 
to this day the Arabs call it Masr, and the Turks Misr. (See 
Part II. Article Egypt.) 

1. The Ludim, or descendants of Lud, son of Misraim. It 
is generally believed that the country and people called Lud 
and Ludim in Scripture refer to the African Ethiopians, which 
people were celebrated for their skill in archery by the ancient 
writers. Now this agrees with what is said of the Ludim in 
Scripture (Jer. xlvi. 9. and Isa. lxvi. 19.) : also in the same 

C 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

text of Isaiah, Lud and Phul are mentioned together, imply- 
ing that they were neighbours. 

2. The Anamim are supposed to be the people afterwards 
called Ammonians, who dwelt in the parts west of Egypt f 
about the temple of Jupiter Ammon. 

3. The Lehabim are conjectured to have peopled Libya y 
which name Lehabya, might have been derived from Lehab,, 
their ancestor. The name Libya, though afterwards extended 
to nearly the whole African continent, yet originally was 
applied only to the country of Cyrenaica on the west of 
Egypt. 

4. The Naphtuhim are thought by some writers to have 
inhabited the country adjoining to Libya proper, towards 
Egypt ; but others place them between Egypt and Arabia. 

5. The Pathrusim, or family of Pathros, are agreed by all 
to have been settled in Thebais, a district of Upper Egypt, 
where stood Pathyris, a place mentioned by the Greeks as 
being near Egyptian Thebes. The Hebrew word Pathros is, 
in the septuagint copy of the Scriptures, translated Pathyris. 

6. The Casluhim are supposed to have occupied a country 
east of Egypt called Casiotis, in which is a mount Casius, 
which names bear some resemblance to Casluch. And fur- 
ther to confirm this location, we read that from the Casluhim 
sprang the Philistim, whom we find afterwards in the adjoin- 
ing parts of Canaan. 

7. The Caphtorim were doubtless settled contiguous to the 
Casluhim ; for though the Philistines are said (Gen. x. 14.) to 
have come out of the Casluhim, yet (Deut. ii. 23. Jer. xlvii. 
4. Amos ix. 7.) they are brought from Caphtor, or the Caph- 
torim. Now as the Caphtorim and Casluhim were neighbours, 
they were probably in course of time so intermixed as to be 
accounted but one people, called either Caphtorim or Caslu- 
him. Some are of opinion that the Copts or Cophtes of 
Egypt have derived their name from Caphtor. 

III. Phut, the son of Ham. 

The nation of Phut is generally admitted to have been first 
established in Libya, west of the family of Misraim, and 
thence extending westward into Mauritania, in which is a 
river called Phut, mentioned by Ptolemy, and also by St. Je- 
rom, who says the adjacent country was called Regio Phu- 
tensis, the country of Phut. 

IV. Canaan, son of Ham. 

Canaan and his posterity were settled in the country called 



DESCENDANTS OF HAM. 27 

after his name, the Land of Canaan, which God afterwards 
gave for an inheritance to the children of Israel, or the seed 
of Abraham. This country is important, from its being so 
frequently mentioned in Scripture ; and the situations of the 
several nations descended from the posterity of Canaan, re- 
quire to be particularly described, in order for the better un- 
derstanding of a considerable portion of the sacred history. 

The land of Canaan lay east and south-east of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, having the country of Aram, the son of Shem, 
north and north-east ; Cush, the son of Ham, south and south- 
east ; Misraim south-west; and the Mediterranean west These 
were the general limits of the country originally ; but as the 
saered history informs us, (Gen. x. 18.) "afterwards were the 
families of the Canaanites spread abroad :" i. e. some of them 
extended their settlements among the neighbouring nations. 

1. Sidon, the first-born of Canaan, 

The settlement of Sidon was in the western part of the land 
of Canaan, on the sea-coast, as is evident from the situation of 
Sidon* a famous city called after his name. Not far from this, 
to the southward, in the same country, was Tyre, a city an- 
ciently celebrated for its wealth and commerce. These two 
cities are frequently mentioned together in Scripture, but it is 
evident that the Tyrians were a colony of Sidonians, as in 
Isaiah xxiii. 12. Tyre is called the daughter of Sidon. Tyre 
is not spoken of in the saered history until the time of king 
David, except in Joshua xix. 29 ; and as in the preceding verse 
Sidon is called the great, it is manifest that Sidon was then 
the chief city. Afterwards, however, Tyre became its supe- 
rior. Homer speaks of the Sidonians, but not of the Tyrians. 

2. The Hittites, or the Children of HetK 

This is the second of the families of Canaanites mentioned 
in Scripture. The children of Heth were settled in the south- 
ern part of Canaan, about Hebron, as is proved from Gen. 
xxiii. 3, where it is said that Abraham bought of the sons of 
Heth a burying-place, where he might bury his wife Sarah, 
who died in Hebron. Further, (Gen. xxvi.) during Isaac's 
sojourning at Beersheba, which was also in the south of Ca- 
naan, Esau, his son, married the daughters of Beeri and Elon, 
both Hittites. 

3. The Jebusites. This family possessed the tract of coun- 
try about Jerusalem, which was originally called Jebus, ac- 
cording to 1 ChroiL xl 4. where we are expressly told that 



28 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

the Jebusites were the inhabitants of the land : so they were 
situated in the mountains north of the Hittites. 

4. Amorites. The mountains east and south-east of Hebron, 
were the abode of the Amorites ; for in Deut. i. 7, 19. the 
mountainous tract near Kadesh-barnea is called the Mount of 
the Amorites : and in Gen. xiv. 7, we read of the Amorites in 
Hazezontamar, which was the same place as Engedi, (2 Chron. 
xx. 2.) situate in the hilly country in the east of Canaan to- 
wards Jordan. Hence the Amorites passed over Jordan, and 
dispossessing the Moabites and Ammonites of some of their 
finest provinces, established a kingdom east of the river Jor- 
dan, and north of the Arnon, of which Heshbon was the cap- 
ital. Sihon was king of this country when the Israelites con- 
quered it on their way from Egypt. 

5. The Girgashites. These people were probably settled 
along the upper part of the river Jordan, and to the east 
of the Sea of Galilee or Gennesareth, where, in the time of 
our Saviour, was a city called Gergesa, and the people Ger- 
gesenes, both of which names are probably derived from Gir- 



6. The Hivites. The original settlement of the Hivites 
was in the northern part of Canaan, about Mount Lebanon, 
(Judges iii. 3.) but like many other families of the Canaan- 
ites, were afterwards dispossessed by their enemies, and 
forced to seek a possession elsewhere. Sometimes also it 
probably happened that they chose to remove, or became in- 
termixed with other families ; so that we frequently read of 
them as being situated in other places than those which we 
mention as their first settlements. 

7. The Arkites. The Arkites are believed to have inhabit- 
ed about Mount Lebanon, in the north of Canaan, in which 
region a city is mentioned by old writers, called Arce. 

8. The Sinites. These people are conjectured to have 
dwelt near the last, as St. Jerom mentions a city which once 
stood in the region adjoining, called Sin, probably retaining 
something of the ancient name of the people. 

9. The Arvadites. An island near the coast of Syria, call- 
ed Aradus, is thought to have received its name from this fam- 
ily, who might have occupied it, as well as part of the adjoin- 
ing continent in the north-western part of Canaan. 

10. The Zemarites. Near the last mentioned people, on 
the coast, is conjectured to have been the seat of the Zemar- 
ites ; for here was a city called Simyra. There was also a 



SOJOURNING OF ABRAHAM. 29 

city called Zemaraim in the tribe of Benjamin, north of Je- 
rusalem, which probably derived its name from some of this 
people. (Josh, xviii. 22.) 

11. The Hamathites. On the borders of Syria, in the 
north-east of Canaan, was situated the city of Hamath, which 
marks the settlement of this family. The entrance of Ha- 
math (1 Kings, viiL 65.) seems to have been a mountain pass, 
leading from the north of Israel into Syria, and in this text is 
mentioned as the extreme northern boundary of the country 
of the Israelites. 

There were other nations inhabiting the parts about Ca- 
naan, such as the Avim, the Horites, the Emim, the Zumim 
and Rephaim. From whom these were descended it is diffi- 
cult to tell. The Avim inhabited the country south-west of 
Gaza, on the borders of the desert. The Horites dwelt about 
Mount Seir, to the south of Canaan, adjacent to the wilder- 
ness of Parart 

The Emim, Zuzim, and Rephaim were gigantic people 
dwelling south-east, east, and north-east, of Canaan. 

Of the Amalekites, Moabites, &c. we shall speak in another 
place. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE SOJOURNING OP ABRAHAM. 

About 2083 years after the creation of the world, Terah, 
the father of Abraham, left his home in Ur of the Chaldees, 
and taking with him Abraham, his son, Lot, his grandson, and 
Sarai, Abraham's wife, departed to go into Canaan ; but being 
come to Haran, they dwelt there. (Gen. xi. 31.) 

1. TJr of the Chaldees. 

With regard to the situation of Ur, learned men have not 
well agreed. Chaldea was the country lying on both sides. of 
the* Euphrates, extending southward to the Persian Gulf, and 
northward into Mesopotamia ; being about the same region as 
that called the Land of Shinar. The word translated Chal- 
dea, is in Hebrew Chasdim, whence it has been thought pro- 
bable that the country received its name from Chesed, one of 
the sons of Nahor, Abraham's brother. 

Ur has been supposed by some to have been situated on the 
Tigris, in Mesopotamia, or the northern part of Chaldea, 
where a city of the same name was found by the Romans, on 
C2 



30 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

their march towards Nisibis ; but as this was not in Chaldea 
proper, others have been induced to look much further south. 
Accordingly, in the very heart of Chaldea, between the Ti- 
gris and the Euphrates, a city is found, called Orcha by Ptok 
emy, and Ura by Josephus, which they suppose to be the native 
city of Abraham. It appears, however, from Acts vii. 2, 3, 4. 
that Ur must have been in Mesopotamia, which was some- 
times called the Land of the Chaldees. 

2. OfHaran. 

The name of the place called Haran in our translation, is 
written in Hebrew Charan, and in Greek Charran. It is 
supposed to have received its name from Haran, the father of 
Lot and brother of Abraham ; and may have been named by 
Terah, in remembrance of his deceased son. Here Terah 
died after a residence of some time. To this place also Jacob 
afterwards retired from the anger of his brother, and dwelt 
with Laban. (Gen. xxvii. 43.) Haran was called Charrse by 
the Romans, and is celebrated in their history as the scene of 
a great defeat, of the Roman army under Crassus, by the Par- 
thians. 

This place is yet called Harran, and is peopled by a few 
families of wandering Arabs, who have been attracted thither 
by a plentiful supply of water from several small streams. 

In Haran, Abraham was called of God to proceed to a 
country which he would show him, and where he was to be 
a great nation : so he arose, and took his wife, and Lot, his 
brother's son, and all their substance, and went forth to go into 
the Land of Canaan. He next came to the place of Sichem 
and the plain of 'Moreh. 

3. Sichem and the Plain of Moreh. 

Sichem is also called Sychem, Sechem, and Shechem, in 
Scripture : it is the place called Sychar in the New Testa- 
ment. It received its name from Shechem, the son of Ha- 
mor, the Canaanite; and is a city of Samaria, near the par- 
cel of ground which Jacob bought of Hamor and gave to his 
son Joseph,, whose bones were buried here when brought out 
of Egypt. (Josh. xxiv. 32.) On the same piece of ground 
was also Jacob's well,,.wjiere our Saviour spake with the 
woman of Samaria. Sichem was situated between Mounts 
Gerizim and Ebal, nearly in the middle of the Land of Ca- 
naan. The plain of Moreh is believed to be the valley of 
Shechem, part of which Jacob bought from the children of 
Hamor. (Gen. xxxiii. 19.) The place is now called Naplous 



SOJOURNING OF ABRAHAM. 31 

or Napolose, and contains about 100 Greek Christians, and a 
few Jews. 

4. Bethel and Hai. 

After leaving the plain of Moreh, ; Abraham removed to a 
mountain between Bethel and Hai, and again from thence 
southward ; but a famine arising in the land, he went down 
into Egypt, and afterwards returned again to Bethel. 

Beth-el in Hebrew means the house of God, and was so 
named afterwards by Jacob, Abraham's grandson, from its be- 
ing the place where he had his remarkable vision or dream. 
The name was afterwards transferred to the adjoining city of 
Luz, which was thenceforth the real place named Bethel. It 
was situated eight or ten miles north of Jerusalem. Here 
Abraham and Lot separated ; Lot, choosing the plain or valley 
of Jordan, pitched his tent near Sodom, and Abraham removed 
to the plain of Mamre in. Hebron., Hai was the place after- 
wards called Ai, which was taken by stratagem by the Isra- 
elites. (Josh. vii. and viii.) 

5. The kings of Elam, Shinar, Ellasar, and the king of 
Nations. 

The kings who came and made war with the five kings of 
the neighbouring cities in the-valeof Siddim, were confederated 
together on account of the five kings having rebelled against 
Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, to whom they had been tribu- 
tary twelve years. Elam was Persia, and Shinar was Chal 
dea. Ellasar was supposed by some to be a country in Arabia, 
by others Ellas in Syria, or Thelassar in Mesopotamia. The 
nations of which Tidal was king, were probably the petty 
nations of Gilgal or Galilee. 

6. The cities Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Beta 
or Zoar. 

These were the five cities with the kings of which Chedor- 
laomer and his allies made war. They were situated in the 
plain or valley through which the Jordan flowed, and were 
probably all situated within that part of it called the vale of 
Siddim, before the destruction of this region by fire from 
heaven. Four of these cities were destroyed by that awful 
visitation for their great wickedness, and the fifth was pre- 
served only at the earnest intercession of Lot, as a place of 
refuge for himself, and because it was a little city : .hence it 
was called Zoar, i. e. the little ; its name before was Bela. 
(Gen. xix. 20. 22.) 

7. The vale of Siddim. 



32 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

This was a rich and fertile valley, a continuation of the 
vale of Jordan ; occupying the spot which is now the Dead 
Sea. This was anciently called the Sea of the Plain, from its 
situation in the great plain or valley of the Jordan ; and some- 
times the Salt Sea, from the extreme saltness of its waters. 
That this sea was once the vale of Siddim is evident from Gen. 
xiv. 3. and xix. 24, 25. It is said by travellers still to bear 
unequivocal marks of the great catastrophe of which it has been 
the site ; and some have even declared that when the waters 
were low they discerned the ruins and fragments of walls which 
had once belonged to the guilty cities which had been over- 
whelmed by the judgment of God. (See Dead Sea, Part II.) 

8. Kirjath-Arba, or Hebron, 

This city is situated in the hilly country, about 20 miles 
south of Jerusalem. It is one of the most ancient cities of 
the east,, having been built seven years before Zoan, in Egypt, 
the ancient capital of the Pharaohs. It was first called Kir- 
jath-Arba, i. e. the city of Arba, from Arba the father of 
Anak, (Josh. xiv. 15.) from whom descended the gigantic An- 
nkim, driven thence by Caleb when he conquered the place. 
Why it was afterwards called Hebron is not certain. Some 
say from Hebron, a son of Kohath and grandson of Levi ; and 
others from Hebron, a son of Caleb. It is remarkable in sacred 
history as the place where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were 
buried, and also Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah. A cave, supposed 
to be the one in which they were buried,, is yet shown here, 
covered by a building which was formerly a Christian church. 
It is also supposed that Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents 
of John the Baptist, dwelt in Hebron. It is yet a place of 
some consequence, and is now called Habroun, and Khalyl. 
Near this place was the plain of Mamre, where Abraham 
dwelt, being about two miles southward from Hebron : it was 
formerly a pleasant and fertile valley, and probably for that 
reason chosen by Abraham as his residence.. 

9. The river of Egypt. 

By this term is generally understood the Nile, as it is the 
only river of any consequence in Egypt ; but it is evident 
that the river of Egypt mentioned in Numb, xxxiv. 5. and 
Josh. xv. 4. could not be the Nile, but was a small river at the 
southern boundary of the land of Canaan. This is confirmed 
in Josh. xv. 47. where, among the cities belonging to the tribe 
of Judah, is mentioned " Gaza with her towns and her vil- 
lages, unto the river of Egypt." It is therefore clearly ascer- 



SOJOURNING OF ABRAHAM. 33 

tained that this river was a stream to the south of Gaza, falling 
into the Mediterranean, forming the southern boundary of the 
Land of Canaan ; and being the border towards Egypt, thence 
derived its name. In Amos vi. 14, it is called the River of 
the Wilderness, from its situation on the edge of the desert 
between Israel and Egypt. It also appears to be the same 
which in some other places is called Sihor. 

10. The Kenites. 

The origin of this people is not distinctly known, but they 
are supposed to have been a tribe of Midianites residing near 
the Amalekites, south-west of Canaan. 

11. The Kenizites. 

These are mentioned along with the Kenites, Kadmonites, 
&c. as people over whom the seed of Abraham should have 
dominion. They are supposed to have descended from Kenaz, 
the grandson of Esau, and to have had their dwelling some- 
where in Idumea, south of Canaan. 

12. The Kadmonites. 

This tribe are supposed to have dwelt in the north-east part 
of Canaan, near Mount Hermon, at the time when Abraham 
visited the country. The word Kadmonites is supposed to 
mean an eastern people ; and hence some have conjectured 
that they were placed east of the Jordan, or that the word 
implied collectively all the people living east of that river. 
The learned Mr. Bryant supposes them to have been Cad- 
mians, a Cuthite or shepherd colony from Egypt, who had 
settled in Canaan, and afterwards spread themselves west- 
ward into Phenicia. Hence they emigrated by colonies into 
Greece and Africa, carrying with them their language and 
letters, as well as their name of Cadmians. Cadmus was one 
of the names of Osiris, the chief deity of Egypt ; and from 
this deity the Greeks, in process of time, framed an ideal 
personage whom they made to be the person who brought 
the Greek letters from Phenicia into Greece. 

13. The Perizzites. 

The origin and situation of the Perizzites are not well as- 
certained. They are supposed to have been some of the de- 
scendants of Canaan, or a people mingled with them. Dr. 
Wells supposes them to have derived their name from the 
Hebrew word Perazoth, denoting villages, and that they 
were rustics, not living in cities, nor consisting of any par- 
ticular family, but made up of stragglers from all. Faber 
thinks they were not Canaanites, but supposes their name to 



&4 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

have been a general term, comprehending' the Anakjm* 
Rephaim, Zuzim, Horim, &c. who were Phenician or Cuthic 
emigrants. 

14. The Rephaim. 

This name is agreed, by those learned in Hebrew, to mean 
men of extraordinary stature or strength. They were situa- 
ted east of the Jordan, adjoining the Emim and Zuzim. The 
valley of Rephaim, or valley of giants, lay near Jerusalem, 
and was probably once inhabited by some of these people de- 
tached from their chief settlement on the east side of Jordan. 

15. The well Lahai-roi, Bered and Gerar. 

After Hagar had fled into the wilderness, she was found by 
the angel of the Lord at a fountain in the way to Shur. This 
fountain was between Kadesh and Bered, and was called 
Lahai-roi, i. e. the fountain of him that lives and sees me* 
Shur was the name of that part of Arabia which adjoins 
Egypt and the Red Sea. Kadesh was a city near the south- 
ern boundary of Canaan : Bered is nowhere else mentioned 
in Scripture, but was probably not far from Gerar, the place 
where Abraham sojourned after his removal southward from 
the neighbourhood of Hebron. Gerar was probably not far 
from Gaza, being in the land of the Philistines." Gen. xxi. 
32.34 

16. Beersheba, and the Land of Moriah. 

Beersheba, in Hebrew, means the well of the oath, and was 
so named from the covenant made concerning it between 
Abraham and Abimelech, king of Gerar. This place, in 
which a city was afterwards built called by heathen writers 
Bersabe, or Berzimma, was situated at the southern extreme 
ity of the land of Israel. Hence the expression so often used 
"from Dan even unto Beersheba," to express the greatest 
length of the Holy Land ; Dan being at the extreme northern 
border, and Beersheba at the southern. 

While Abraham sojourned at Beersheba, he was required of 
God, as a trial of his obedience, to go into the Land of Moriah, 
and there to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. 
(Gen. xxii. 2.) It is generally thought that this land of Moriah 
was the mount so called, upon which Solomon afterwards built 
the temple, and on part of which, namely, Mount Calvary* 
our Saviour afterwards offered himself for the redemption of 
mankind. Instead, however, of Moriah, the Samaritans in, 
this passage read Moreh, and say that it was to Mount Gen- 
zim, near the plain of Moreh and Sichem, where feaao wa$ 



SOJOtTRNlftS OF ABRAHAM. 35 

brought to be sacrificed. According* to Maimonides, the place 
where Abraham built the altar for this purpose was the same 
where David afterwards built his, in the threshing-floor of 
Araunah the Jebusite, near Jerusalem. 

17. Abraham 's sons by Keturah. 

After the death of Sarah, Abraham took to wife Keturah, 
whose children are named, Gen. xxv. 1-4. To these children 
Abraham gave gifts and sent them away from his son Isaac, 
into the east country, i. e. , into the eastern part of Arabia, 
where we find some of their descendants afterwards mention- 
ed in the sacred history. 

Midian, one of these, was the progenitor of the Midianites, 
who were settled chiefly south-east of the Dead Sea, adjoining 
the Moa,bites, with whom we afterwards find them sometimes 
mentioned in conjunction as neighbours. Numb. xxii. 4. From 
this place it is probable that the Midianites spread abroad into 
the adjacent countries, as we read of them afterwards as be- 
ing in the vicinity of Mount Sinai, near the Red Sea, where 
Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, and priest of Midian, had 
his residence. 

Jokshan, another son of Abraham by Keturah, had two sons 
named Sheba and Dedan, who must be distinguished from the 
two descendants of Cush, of the same name, settled in Arabia 
Felix ; while the sons of Jokshan were settled to the north- 
ward of them in Arabia Deserta. 

18. Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar. 

Ishmael dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, (Gen. xxi. 21.) 
which was the desert and mountainous tract between the wil- 
derness of Shur on the west, and Mount Seir or the land of 
Edom, on the east ; having the land of Canaan on the north, 
and the Red Sea on the south. He became the father of twelve 
sons, (Gen. xxv. 13.) whose posterity " dwelt from Havilah 
unto Shur," that is, in Arabia Petrsea, of which the western 
part, towards Egypt, is called Shur, and the eastern part, 
towards the Persian Gulf, Havilah. The modern Arabians 
value themselves on being descended from Ishmael, of whom 
it was foretold that he should be a wild man, the father of 
a great nation ; and that his hand should be against every 
man, and every man's hand against him. Gen. xvi. 12. xxi. 18. 

18. Descendants of Lot, the Moabites and Ammonites. 

The posterity of Moab, the -elder son of Lot, settled east of 
the Lake Asphaltites or Dead Sea, and in the adjacent coun- 
try, east of the Jordan-; for we learn by Numb. xxi. 26. tha& 



3b SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

the Amorites had conquered that country from the Moabites, 
as far as the river Arnon. 

The descendants of Amnion, the younger son of Lot, pos* 
sessed the country adjoining the Moabites, on the northward 
and eastward ; from the Arnon to the river Jabbok, being the 
northern part of what was afterwards the kingdom of Sihon* 
Numb. xxi. 13. Josh. xiii. 25. and Judges xi. 13^-23. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE SETTLEMENT OP ESAU, AND THE SOJOURNING OP JACOB. 

I. Mount Seir or Edom, the dwelling of Esau. 

Esau and Jacob having separated on account of their riches* 
and the number of their cattle, which were more than the 
country could bear ; Esau went from the face of his brother 
Jacob, and dwelt in Mount Seir. Gen. xxxvi. 6-^9. 

Edom, afterwards called Idumea, was situated south of the 
Land of Canaan, and the Dead Sea, and extended as far as 
some branches of the Red Sea ; having the land of Midian on 
the east, and the Amalekites on the west. 

The settlement of Esau was in the mountains of Seir, to 
the south-east of the Dead Sea. This mountainous tract was 
possessed by the Horites, probably the family of Hor, after 
whom Mount Hor may have been named ; as this mountain, 
on which Aaron died, was on the borders of Edom. This re- 
gion appears to have received the name of Mount Seir after- 
wards, from the family of Seir, the Horite, (Gen. xxxvi. 20.) 
who seems to have been a person of consequence in that land. 
After the children of Esau had succeeded the Horites, the 
country was called Edom, a name by whrch Esau was distin- 
guished, after he had sold his birth-right to Jacob. The Edom- 
ites Were first governed by dukes or princes, and afterwards 
by kings. They were conquered by David, (2 Sam. viii. 14.) 
and the prophecy that Jacob should rule Esau completely ful- 

II. The Sojourning of Jacob. 

After Jacob, the younger son of Isaac, had received the 
blessing from his father, instead of Esau, he was hated by his 
elder brother, who even sought his life. He was therefore 



SOJOURNING OF JACOB. 37 

sent by his mother to her brother Laban, who dwelt at Haran 
in Padan Aram or Mesopotamia. On his way thither from 
Beersheba, he came to a certain place, and lay down to sleep. 
It was here that he had the vision in which God renewed to 
him the promise already made to Abraham and Isaac : hence 
this place was named by Jacob Bethel, the house of God. Of 
its situation we have already spoken in our account of the so- 
journing of Abraham. 

1. Gilead and Mizpah. 

After remaining several years at Haran, during which time 
he married the two daughters of Laban, Jacob desiring to re- 
turn to Canaan, stole away from Laban, and, with his family 
and his flocks, set out on his journey homewards. He crossed 
the river (probably the Euphrates) and came to Mount Gilead, 
where Laban, having pursued, overtook him. Here they made 
a covenant, raising a heap of stones, from which the place was 
called Galeed, i. e. the heap of witness. The mountain where 
this was done was afterwards called Galeed or Gilead by the 
Israelites. It was situated east of the Sea of Galilee, being 
part of that ridge of mountains which runs from Lebanon south- 
ward, on the east of the Holy Land, and included in the moun- 
tainous region called Trachonitis in the New Testament. 
Mizpah was another name given this heap of stones, from 
which the town of Mizpah, belonging to the tribe of Gad, and 
lying near this famous place of the covenant, took its name. 

2. Mahanaim, the Brook Jabbok, and Penuel. 

Having gone on his way some distance into Canaan, Jacob 
was met by the angels of God. And when he saw them he 
said, This is God's host ; and hence he called the place Maha- 
naim, i. e. the hosts. From this the city near this place was 
afterwards called Mahanaim. It was situated near the river 
Jabbok, on the way from Mount Gilead. 

This brook or river Jabbok ran from the Mountains of Gi- 
lead, and probably emptied into the Jordan, south of the Sea 
of Galilee ; some, however, think that it emptied into that 
sea. 

Near this brook was also the place named Peniel, i. e. the 
face of God : so called from Jacob's wrestling there with an 
angel ; at which time he received the name of Israel. Hence, 
the adjoining city was called Penuel. 

Not far from this last place, and near the river Jordan, was 
Succoth, where Jacob " built him an house, and made booths 
ftr his cattle." Gen. xxxiii. 17. 

D 



38 SCRlPTtJKE GEOGRAPHY. 

3. Ephrath, or Ephratah, afterwards called Bethlehem. 
After leaving Succoth, Jacob crossed the Jordan and came 

to Shalem, a city of Shechem, where he bought a parcel of 
ground. He next passed on to Bethel, where he built an altar, 
and held communion with God. 

After this, when they had come near to Ephrath, Benjamin 
was born, and Rachel died. She was buried here, and Jacob 
set a pillar upon her grave, which probably stood a long time* 
as it is mentioned in 1 Sam. x. 2. That Ephrath was the 
same as Bethlehem, we learn from Gen. xxxv. 19. So that 
the same place, remarkable for the birth of Benjamin, was na 
less so for that of king David, and more famous still as the 
birth-place of oar Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

4. The Tower of Edar. 

From the last mentioned place Israel journeyed again, and 
spread his tent beyond the Tower of Edar. The word Eder 
or Edar, in Hebrew, signifies a flock ; and in Micah iv. 8. the 
Tower of Edar is translated the Tower of the Flock ; whence, 
as it is termed " the strong hold of the daughter of Sion,'* 
some have supposed that it denotes a place near Jerusalem* 
Others think it means the field near Bethlehem, where the 
shepherds were keeping their flocks when the angel appeared, 
and announced to them the birth of Christ. 

From thi3 place Jacob went to Isaac, his father, in Mamre 
or Hebron, where Isaac died and was buried. Jacob remained 
there, and from this place he sent Joseph to see his brethren 
who had gone to feed their father's flocks in Shechem, where 
he had before bought a piece of ground. 

5. Dothan. 

Joseph, having come to Shechem, was not able to find his 
brethren, who had gone to Dothan ; but being at length in- 
formed of it, he went thither. When his brethren at Dothan 
saw him coming, they conspired against him, because of his 
dreams; and sold him to some Ishmaelites and Midianites, 
who were going down from Gilead to Egypt with merchan- 
dise. These took Joseph with them to Egypt, where they 
sold him to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard. Accord- 
ing 1o Eusebius, Dothan w r as situated about twelve miles 
north of the city of Samaria. 

6. Adullam, Chezib, and Timnath. 

These places are mentioned (Gen. xxxviii.) in relating cer- 
tain transactions of Judah, the son of Jacob. Adullam was a 
city in the northern part of the tract afterwards allotted to 






ISRAELITES IN EGYPT. 39 

the tribe of Judah, south-west from Jerusalem ; and was re- 
markable for a cave in its neighbourhood, in which David hid 
himself from the pursuit of Saul. Chezib was not far from 
Adullam; and is thought by some to have been the place 
called Achzib in Josh. xv. 44. Timnath was probably the 
same place as that mentioned afterwards in the story of Sam- 
son : it was situated westward from Jerusalem, on the border 
of the tribe of Judah, but belonged to the tribe of Dan. 



CHAPTER VL 

EESIDENCE OF THE ISRAELITES IN THE LAND OP EGYPT. 

Joseph, having through Divine favour attained tbe highest 
degree of honour and power in Egypt, next to the king, sent 
for his father, his brethren, and their families, to bring them 
from the Land of Canaan into Egypt Accordingly, Jacob, 
with all his family, amounting to three-score and six persons, 
together with their flocks and all that they had, went down 
from the Land of Canaan, then the seat of famine, and were 
placed by Joseph in the Land of Goshen, a fertile part of 
Egypt 

1. The Land of Goshen, or Rameses* 

The district of Egypt called Goshen was situated in the 
easterly part of Egypt, between the river Nile and the north- 
ern extremity of the Red Sea. Some authors suppose it was 
called the Land of Rameses, from a king of Egypt of that 
name* after whom the city of Rameses, which stood therein, 
was also named. They conjecture that this district was the 
property of the sovereign, in which his own cattle pastured, 
as he tells Joseph, (Gen. xlviL 6.) " make thy brethren rulers 
over my cattle," whieh probably were kept in the best of the 
land, and to tend which, at any great distance, it does not 
fieem consistent that Joseph's brethren should do. Being Pha- 
raoh's own property, too, it might be given to the children of 
Israel, with more propriety, as the possessions of his subjects 
would not in that case be encroached upon. 

2. The City of On. 

This city, otherwise called in Hebrew Bethshemesh, the 
House of the Sun, was the same called in Greek Heliopolis, 
the City of the Sun. It was the priest of this On, whose 
daughter was given in marriage by Pharaoh to Joseph ; and 



40 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

the LXX. say that this was the place where Jacob and Joseph 
met. According to Josephus, this city was given to the Isra- 
elites on their coming into Egypt, probably because it lay in 
or very near to the Land of Goshen, on the eastern branch of 
the Nile. 

Near this city, in after ages, a temple was built for the 
Jews by Onias, the high priest, who had been dispossessed of 
his authority and office by Antiochus ; Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
then king of Egypt, consenting to its erection. 

3. Raamses and Pithom. 

These were "treasure cities," built for Pharaoh by the 
Israelites, while in a state of bondage. By the term treasure 
cities, it is probably to be understood that they were granaries 
or repositories for corn ; as such places seem to have been 
much in use by the Egyptians, after the good effects attend- 
ing the first introduction of them by Joseph were felt and un- 
derstood. Some commentators, however, consider them to 
have been cities of defence, or military depots. It is not cer- 
tain whether Raamses and Rameses were the same city : if 
not, they were not very far distant, both being near the east- 
ern branch of the Nile. Pithom is thought by some writers 
to be the same as Pathumos, mentioned by Herodotus as be- 
ing situated near the canal which was made by the kings 
Necho and Darius to join the Red Sea with the Nile. Others 
incline to the opinion that it was situated where Pelusium, 
the modern Damietta, was afterwards built, i. e. near the 
eastern mouth of the Nile. 

4. Of the Employment of the Israelites while in Bondage, 
The space of time which the children of Israel remained 

in Egypt, is understood to have been about 215 years.* Joseph 
ruled seventy years ; and it was about 58 years after his death 
that the " new king arose up who knew not Joseph," (Exod. i. 
8.) ; consequently the term of bondage lasted 87 years. There 
is no reason for supposing that they were occupied all this 
time in building the two cities already mentioned ; for their 
number, when they went up out of the Land of Egypt, 
amounted to six hundred thousand men, besides children. 
(Exod. xii. 37.) At what, then, was this immense multitude 
of people employed during nearly a hundred years 1 

May we not look to the Pyramids of Egypt as having been 

* The 430 years' sojourning, mentioned in Exod. xii. 40, is to be computed 
from the time of Abraham's departure out of Haran. 



JOURNEYINGS OF THE ISRAELITES. 41 

built by the children of Israel ; and yet standing as everlast- 
ing monuments of the truth of sacred history 1 We find that 
the labours of the Israelites consisted in making bricks, with 
which they mixed straw ; and it appears from the inspection 
of various travellers who have examined these stupendous 
edifices, that their interior parts contain, among other mate- 
rials, bricks of this kind. This is true of the great pyramid 
which has been opened ; but the pyramids of Sakkara, at some 
distance from this, are composed wholly of sun-burnt bricks, 
mixed with chopped straw. 

It is not likely that the native Egyptians laboured on these 
structures ; for it was anciently, as it is yet in eastern coun- 
tries, the custom to employ slaves or bondmen in building. 
Diodorus Siculus, the historian, informs us that Sesostris, the 
king of Egypt, in building his public edifices, employed none 
of his own subjects, but only captives ; and that he even had 
it engraved on the temples that no Egyptian had a hand in 
the building. It is therefore very probable that the " king 
who knew not Joseph," dreading the increasing numbers and 
strength of the Israelites, would set them to labour on such 
buildings, and would afflict them with grievous tasks for the 
mere purpose of wasting their strength and preventing their 
increase. And as the last pyramid was never completely 
finished, we may attribute its unfinished state to the Israelites 
having left Egypt before its completion, and to the confusion 
in the country consequent upon the destruction of Pharaoh 
and his army in the Red Sea, 

(For a further account of the Pyramids, and the Land of 
Egypt in general^ see Egypt, Part IL) 



CHAPTER VII. 

JOURNEYINGS OF THE ISRAELITES FROM EGYPT TO CANAAN. 

That part of the sacred history relating to the wanderings 
of the children of Israel in the desert* and their progress to- 
wards Canaan, is in many places very perplexing and obscure 
in its geography ; but we shall endeavour to trace their route 
as accurately as the existing sources of information, which we 
have diligently examined, will allow. The sands of the desert, 
driven by easterly winds, are constantly advancing farther 
westward ; and this will be found to have considerable influ- 

D2 



42 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

ence on the character of the wilderness into which the Isra- 
elites entered, as well as its extent. In the days of Moses it 
probably did not begin so near to Egypt as it now does, nor 
was it so totally barren and sandy as it now is. That it then 
contained many fertile spots, is evident from the numerous 
flocks and herds of cattle taken with them by the Israelites 
from Egypt, having been able to find subsistence. Exod. xii. 
38. The northern extremity of the Red Sea, too, advanced 
much further to the north formerly than it does now, owing 
to the constant driving of sand from the desert. The depth 
of water at Suez is gradually diminishing, and before long 
that part of the gulf will probably become dry land. Kolsoum, 
which was a sea-port in the time of the Caliphs, is now three 
quarters of a mile inland. It is probable therefore that Baal- 
zephon, which in the time of Moses was upon the Red Sea, 
was some miles further north, than the present Suez, which 
is supposed by some to stand in the same place. Other con- 
siderable changes in the face of the desert may have been 
produced by the same cause, whence probably arises much 
of the difficulty attending the geographical account of the 
stations or encampments of the Israelites in the wilderness. 

1. Rameses. — This was the Rameses in the Land of Go- 
shen, where the Israelites dwelt, of which we have already 
spoken. From this place they set out, in number " about six 
hundred thousand on foot that were men, besides children." 
Exod. xii. 37. 

2. Succoth. — The first advance on their journey was to 
Succoth, which word in Hebrew means booths, and the place 
was so named because there the Israelites erected booths or 
shelters. This place was not far on the way to the wilder- 
ness of the Red Sea, and is supposed to be the place now 
called Birket el Hadgi or Pilgrim's Pool, a few miles east of 
Cairo, where the caravan for Mecca now assembles. 

3. Etham. They next " took their journey from Succoth, 
and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness." 
Exod. xiii. 20. Etham was probably near the present pilgrim 
station called Adjeroud ; and that part of the wilderness next 
to Egypt, was called the wilderness of Etham. Numb, xxxiii. 
8. Thus far Moses pursued the direct road to Canaan, yet the 
regular and customary track ; but being come to Etham, he was 
commanded by the Lord to turn again to the south and en- 
camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over 
against Baal-Zephon. 



JOURNEYINGS OF THE ISRAELITES. 43 

4. Pi-hahiroth. — This Hebrew word means, the mouth of 
the gulf, and was probably so named from being near the 
mouth of the present gulf of Suez. It is thought to be the 
place more recently called Heroun or Heroopolis, which stood 
near the extremity of the Red Sea. 

5. Migdol. — It is not certain whether this was a city or a 
tower. Some think it was a city, as the LXX. translators 
render the name Magdolus, and Herodotus mentions a city 
of that name situated hereabouts ; but as Migdol in Hebrew 
signifies a tower, some think it was merely a building at a 
well or station in the way ; Magdolus or Magdolo being fur- 
ther north. 

6. Baal-Zephon. — This name is thought by learned men 
to have been the name of an idol placed here to keep the bor- 
ders of the country, and prevent the escape of the slaves ; 
Zephon being thought to come from the Hebrew Zephah, to 
watch or spy : but it is also said to signify north, so that it may 
have been a temple standing at the north point of the Red 
Sea, near the present Suez. 

7. Passage through the Red Sea. — Pharaoh, having been 
told of the flight of the Israelites, pursued with a great force, 
and overtook them at their encampment near Baal-Zephon. 
The Israelites, alarmed at the sudden appearance of the Egypt- 
ians, began to mistrust the providence of God, as no way of 
escape appeared to them ; being shut in on all sides by the wil- 
derness, by the mountains, and by the sea, and having the army 
of the Egyptians behind them. But they escaped by the way 
which probably they least thought of; for Moses, stretching 
out his hand over the sea, it was divided, and the Israelites 
passed over on dry ground. The Egyptians following, the 
sea returned to its place and they were all overwhelmed in 
the waters, not one escaping. Exod. xiv; 15-30. This miracu- 
lous event seems to have been preserved in tradition among 
the neighbouring people ; as Diodorus, a heathen historian, 
relates that among the Ichthyophagi, a people of this region, 
an old tradition, delivered down from their ancestors, states 
that the waters of the sea formerly parted, the waters falling 
back on each side, so that the bottom was dry the whole 
breadth across, appearing of a green colour ; but that some 
time after the sea returned to its usual place. This tradition 
doubtless refers to the miraculous passage of the Israelites. — 
(See Red Sea, Part II.) 

8. The ivildcrness of Shur. — After passing the Red Sea, 



44 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

Moses led the Israelites out into the wilderness of Shur, a 
distance of three days' journey. Exod. xv. 22. Numb, xxxiii. 
8. This wilderness is probably the same as that of Etham, 
mentioned before ; at all events, it was the desert tract of Ara- 
bia Petrsea next to Egypt. The wilderness of Etham was 
probably that part of it which lay nearest to Etham, and as 
the Israelites went out of the Red Sea into the wilderness of 
Shur, it is evident that they must have crossed this sea near 
the north end of it, as both Shur and Etham were there situ- 
ated. 

9. Marah. — This word in Hebrew signifies bitterness, and 
the place was so named from the water which they found 
there being so bitter that they could not drink it. Moses, 
however, praying to the Lord, was shown a tree, the wood of 
which being cast into the water, it was made sweet. Exod. 
xv. 23. Marah was on the east of the Red Sea, where Nie- 
buhr says there are yet four pits of water which are bitter. 
He describes the place as being eight (German) miles south- 
eastward from Suez. 

10. Elim. — From Marah they came to Elim, where they 
found twelve wells of water and seventy palm-trees. Exod. 
xv. 27. Elim lies in the north skirt of the desert, two leagues 
from Tor, where there are now nine wells and two thousand 
palm-trees. Dr. Shaw says there is a distinct view of Mount 
Sinai from Elim, the wilderness of Sin lying between them, 
about a day's journey across. 

11. The wilderness of Sin. — This was the desert between 
Elim and Sinai. But the Israelites, in going from Elim to this 
wilderness, made an encampment by the Red Sea (Numb, 
xxxiii. 10, 11.) probably because they were obliged to turn 
from the direct course by some obstacle which hindered them 
from going directly forward. During their stay in the wilder- 
ness of Sin, they were first provided with manna, which sup- 
ply continued to be regularly given them; during forty years 
till they came to the land of Canaan, Exod. xvk 35. 

12. Dophka and Alush. — Nothing important seems to have 
occurred at these encampments, as they are not mentioned in 
Exodus. They are noticed Numb, xxxiii. 12. 14. Alush was 
in the country of the Edomites, near the city of Petra. 

13. Rephidim. — This station of the Israelites is remarkable 
as being the place where Moses was ordered to go and smite 
the rock of Horeb with his rod, in order to obtain water for 
the people who, according to their usual custom, murmured 



JOURNEYINGS OF THE ISRAELITES.- 45 

against him. It seems by this that Rephidim could not have 
been far from Horeb. This place is also remarkable for an 
attack upon Israel by the Amalekites, who were discomfited 
by Joshua. 

14. The wilderness of Sinai. — After leaving Rephidim, the 
Israelites encamped in the wilderness of Sinai, which means 
the desert lying about the foot of Mount Sinai. In this en- 
campment they remained a long time : here they received the 
law ; here Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, came to the 
camp, and brought him his wife and children ; and here he 
advised Moses to appoint judges to decide small matters of 
controversy among the people, as the labour of hearing and 
deciding all these matters was too great a burden for Moses 
to bear. It is thought that the appointment of these judges 
was the foundation of the celebrated Sanhedrim, or general 
council of the Jewish nation, consisting of seventy senators, 
who assembled at fixed times to determine the most important 
affairs of church and state. 

15. The Mountains Horeb and Sinai. — It is evident from 
several passages of Scripture, that Horeb and Sinai are either 
adjoining mountains, or that they are only two different heads 
or summits of the same mountain. For what is in one place 
related as having been done at Horeb, is in another related as 
having been done at Sinai. For instance, we read (Exod. xx.) 
that the commandments were delivered from Sinai ; and it is 
repeated (Deut. v.) that they were delivered from Horeb. And 
also, (Deut. ix. 8, 9.) " In Horeb ye provoked the Lord to 
wrath — when I was gone up into the mount (i. e. Mount Si- 
nai) to receive the tables of the covenant." Hence it follows 
that the difference between these mountains can be no other 
than that which we have above mentioned, that is, that they 
were adjoining mountains, or only two different eminences or 
peaks of the same mountain : consequently, the removing of 
the Israelites from Rephidim, near where the rock of Horeb 
was smitten by Moses, into the wilderness of Sinai, was only 
removing from one end or side of the same mountain to the 
other ; or, at most, from one mountain to another adjoining. 

Modern travellers, who have visited Mount Sinai, say that 
it presents three sublime summits of red granite, Mount Sinai, 
Mount Horeb, and a third which is called St. Catharine's 
Mount. Sinai lies to the east and Horeb to the west, so that 
when the sun rises, Horeb is covered by the shadow of Sinai. 
Mount Horeb has abundance of fruit trees on it, and three 



46 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

fine springs ; but there is none but rain-water on Mount Sinai. 
But the most remarkable thing to be seen at Horeb, is a soli- 
tary rock of red marble, about four yards square, which is be- 
lieved to be the same which was smitten by the rod of Moses. 
It has several openings or mouths, from which it is supposed 
the waters flowed ; some of them having horizontal and some 
perpendicular cracks or clefts, which it is evident could never 
have been produced by any tool. Dr. Shaw, who visited this 
mountain, says that the waters which flowed from it have hol- 
lowed across one corner of the rock a channel about two 
inches deep, and twenty wide, w 7 hich yet bears evident marks 
of the gushing fountain. 

On both these mountains are many churches and monaste- 
ries, inhabited by monks and hermits, who are chiefly members 
of the Greek Church. Horeb and Sinai are situated in the 
north-west of Arabia, between the two arms of the Red Sea. 

16. Taberah, Kibroth-hattaavah, and Hazeroth. — These 
were encampments or stations of the Israelites, between the 
wilderness of Sinai and the wilderness of Paran. Taberah, 
the first, was noted as the place where the people were pun- 
ished for their murmurings and lustings, with a fire which 
consumed some of them : hence the place was called Taberah, 
i. e. burning. Kibroth-hattaavah means the graves of lust ; 
and was so named from the people being buried there who 
died of the plague sent as a punishment for their lusting. At 
Hazeroth, Miriam was punished with leprosy, and was shut 
out from the camp seven days, because she and Aaron had 
spoken against Moses on account of the Cushite or Ethiopian 
woman whom he had married. 

17. The Wilderness of Paran.—After leaving Hazeroth, 
the Israelites next pitched in the wilderness of Paran. This 
term, in a comprehensive sense, seems to have denoted all the 
desert and mountainous tract lying between the wilderness of 
Shur, on the west, and Mount Seir or the Land of Edom, on 
the east ; having the Land of Canaan on the north, and the 
Red Sea on the south. In this sense, it seems to have com- 
prehended the wilderness of Sin, and the wilderness of Sinai ; 
also the adjoining tract, in which lay Kibroth-hattaavah and 
Hazeroth. In this sense it is probably understood, Deut. i. 19. 
where by " that great and terrible wilderness," is probably 
intended the wilderness of Paran. But in a stricter sense it 
seems to have included only that part of Arabia Petrsea 
which lies northward from Mount Sinai, about Hazeroth. 



JOimSfcYiflUS OP THE ISRAELITES. 47 

From the wilderness of Paran, Moses sent a man out of everj* 
tribe, to spy out the Land of Canaan, (Numb. xiii. 3.) whf 
returned to him after forty days, unto the same wilderness, U 
Kadesh Barnea. (Numb. xiii. 25. Deut. i. 19. Josh. xiv. 7.) 

18. Kadesh, or Kadesh Barnea. — The encampment at thit 
place is not particularly specified by Moses, but is probably 
denoted by some of the encampments mentioned under othei 
names ; tor we are told (Deut. i. 46.) that the Israelites abode 
in Kadesh many days. Therefore it is likely that they 
made several movements or new encampments during their 
stay, which may be the reason that the single name of Kadesh 
is not mentioned to designate the place of their stay, but the 
several particular names by which their several particular 
encampments were distinguished. This Kadesh is evidently 
a different place from the Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, 
mentioned in Numb, xxxiii. 36. It was at Kadesh Barnea 
that the spies returned, after searching the Land of Canaan, to 
which they were then very near ; and there, by reason of their 
infidelity, brought on themselves the judgment of wandering 
in the desert, till they should have filled up the space of forty 
years from their coming out of Egypt. But the Israelites did 
not come to Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, till the last year 
of the forty, as may be inferred from the death of Aaron, 
(Numb, xxxiii. 38.) And as it is probable that Miriam died 
but a few months before Aaron, so it is certain she died at Ka- 
desh in the wilderness of Zin. (Numb. xx. 1.) 

19. Journeys from Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Paran, 
to the Wilderness of Zin. — The encampments mentioned in 
Numb, xxxiii. from about verse 20 to 36, were probably be- 
tween the decamping from Kadesh Barnea, to the encamping 
at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. None of these are of 
much interest in a geographical or historical point of view, 
except Ezion-gaber (Numb, xxxiii. 35.) and Elath mentioned 
with it, Deut. ii. 8. 

20. Ezion-gaber and Eloth. — Ezion-gaber was a city of 
Idumea or Arabia Deserta, east from the Red Sea, and upon 
the eastern arm of this sea, called the Gulf of Elan or Eloth. 
At this port Solomon equipped his fleet for the voyage to 
Ophir. 

Eloth was probably also a sea-port, near the former, on the 
same gulf; and was also visited by king Solomon. 2 Chron. 
viii. 17. 

21. The Wilderness of Zin. — It is evident from Numb, 



48 sePvirrmtE geockaphv. 

xxxiv. 3. 4. and Josh. xv. 1-3, that this wilderness lay south- 
east of the Land of Israel, along the border of Edom. We 
have already observed that Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, 
was different from Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran, which 
was further westward. Some writers indeed make the wil- 
derness of Zin to lie on the west of Edom, but we think Dr. 
Wells' reasoning conclusive, that it was eastward of that 
country. 

22. Mount Hor. — From Kadesh the Israelites removed to 
Mount Hor, which is remarkable as the place where Aaron 
died. This w T as the edge of the land of Edom, and from 
what has been said before, probably the eastern boundary. 
The former inhabitants of Edom were called Horites, but 
whether they took their name from the mountain, or the 
mountain from them, is not certain, but probably the latter, 
as places in those days generally took their names from the 
inhabitants. With regard to the difficulty concerning the 
place of Aaron's death and burial, which arises from compar- 
ing Numb. xx. 23-29. and xxxiii. 37. 38. with Deut. x. 6., Dr. 
Wells observes that there has evidently been an error of some 
of the early Hebrew copyists; and shows by a reference to 
the old Hebrew- Samaritan copy of the Scriptures, that the 
error is in Deut. x. 6, and that Aaron died and was buried in 
Mount Hor. This will also account for the difference in the 
order of encampments observed in the same place. 

23. Encampments from Mount Hor to the Valley of Zered. 
— After leaving Mount Hor, the Israelites " journeyed by the 
way of the Red Sea, to compass the Land of Edom." (Numb, 
xxi. 4.) The expression " by the way of the Red Sea," here 
probably means not along the coast of the Red Sea, for they 
were then advancing to the northward further from it ; but 
that they went by the way or road used by the people of Ca- 
naan and the countries east of it, in their journeys to and from 
the Red Sea. The Israelites passed by this way, round the 
eastern border of the Land of Edom, and encamped in Zalmo- 
nah, in Punon, and in Oboth. In this passage the people be- 
came discouraged, and "spake against God, and against Moses." 
(Numb. xxi. 5.) For this they were punished by fiery ser- 
pents, which bit them, and many of them died ; but they were 
at length relieved by a brazen serpent which the Lord directed 
Moses to make. 

From Oboth, they removed to Ije-abarim in the eastern 
border of Moab : this place is elsewhere called Iim, and lay 



JOURNEYINGS OF THE ISRAELITES. 49 

in the Land of Moab, east of the Dead Sea. The Valley of 
Zered was the plain through which flowed the brook Zered 
or Zared, which emptied into the eastern side of the Dead 
Sea. 

24. From the Valley of Zered to the Mountains ofAbarim. 
— From the Valley of Zered the Israelites removed, and 
pitched on the other side of Arnon, (Numb. xxi. 13.) proba 
bly at the place called Dibon Gad, in Numb, xxxiii. 45, 46. 
This, and the next station, Almon-diblathaim, were in the 
land of the Amorites ; for they had crossed the river Arnon, 
which was the boundary between Moab and the Amorites. 
(Numb. xxi. 13.) 

25. The Mountains of Abarim, Mounts Nebo and Pisgah. 
— The Abarim were a ridge of mountains between tlie rivers 
Arnon and Jordan, of considerable extent, separating the Land 
of Canaan from the Moabites, Amorites, and Ammonites. 
They were steep and high mountains, presenting from their 
summits a grand view of the Land of Canaan. 

Mount Nebo was one of this chain, probably the highest 
and was situated near Jordan, over-against Jericho. It would 
seem from Deut. xxxiv. 1, that Nebo and Pisgah were the 
same mountain, and that if there were any distinction, it was 
either the top of the mountain that was more peculiarly 
called Pisgah, or some part of it where there were steps cut 
out to go up. The name signifies high hill, whence it was 
probably the most elevated summit But, according to Eu- 
sebius, Aquila, who translated the Bible into Greek, has al- 
ways rendered the Hebrew term Pisgah, by a word which 
signifies to cut out ; and so, in some places, do the LXX. 
translators. Hence, some have thought it probable that in 
one part of Mount Nebo, steps were cut out, to aid in the as- 
cent of the mountain, and that this part was called Pisgah. 
The prospect of Canaan from this mountain was very exten- 
sive, including the whole of the country, from Dan in the 
north, to Zoar in the south. Some writers have questioned 
whether this was not the mountain to which our Lord was 
taken by the tempter ; whence the view was so extensive as 
to be called figuratively all the world. 

A city in the tribe of Reuben was called Nebo, probably 
from this mountain ; and also the city Ashdoth-Pisgah. (Josh, 
xiii. 20.) 

26. Encampment in the Plains of Moab. — After the Isra- 
elites had removed from the mountains of Abarim, thev 

E 



50 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

pitched their tents in the plains of Moab, hy Jordan, near 
Jericho. And they pitched by Jordan in such a manner, that 
their camp extended from Beth-jesimoth unto Abel-shittim, in 
the plains of Moab. (Numb, xxxiii. 48. 49.) Beth-jesimoth 
was a city given afterwards to the tribe of Reuben. It lay 
in the south border of the kingdom of Sihon, not far from the 
Dead Sea. (Josh. xii. 3.) Eusebius mentions a place called 
Beth-simath, which is probably the same, lying east of Jor- 
dan, about ten miles south-eastward from Jericho. 

Abel-shittim, or the Valley of Shittim, lay some distance 
northward from Beth-jesimoth. It is, in other passages of 
Scripture, simply called Shittim. It is thought by some that 
the shittim- wood, so frequently spoken of, took its name from 
this place, where it probably grew very abundantly. 

This is the last encampment mentioned, and ends the Mo- 
saic history of the journey ings of the Israelites from the Land 
of Egypt to Canaan. 

We shall close our account of this interesting subject, by 
the following general observations. 

From Egypt to Baalzephon, Or Suez, it is certain that Mo- 
ses followed the customary road now taken by the caravans of 
pilgrims ; here he turned off, crossed the Red Sea, and led his 
people to Mount Sinai, for the purpose of solemnly engaging 
them in devotion and consecration to the Deity, who had ap- 
peared to him there before, (Exod. iii.) and had given him, as 
a token, this very solemnity, (verse 12.) 

Having accomplished the sacred transactions at Sinai, 
Moses had his choice of three ways to reach the Land of Ca- 
naan. 1. By a northerly course directly through the country 
of the Edomites. 2. By going back again to the common 
track from Egypt to Canaan, and so entering it on the south- 
west. 3. By taking a north-easterly course around Edom. 
The first route was occupied by enemies ; for the Edomites 
refused them a passage through their country. The second 
they followed till they reached the boundary of their expected 
country at Kadesh Barnea ; but here they were turned back 
by the faint-hearted reports of their spies, and by their own 
folly and discontent. Hence they retreated again through 
the wilderness, again passed not far from Sinai in their jour- 
ney to Eloth and Ezion-gaber, and finally entered Canaan by 
the north-easterly route, around Mount Seir or Edom. 

It appears that Moses judged rightly of his people at first, 
that war would have terrified them ; and that even after they 



THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 51 

had been some time under his direction, their courage was 
very moderate, and their habits of submission very weak: 
as in the first instance they would not fight, and in the 
second they would not obey. But after this capricious gene- 
ration had passed away, better discipline produced better ef- 
fects, and a mutinous spirit no longer prevailing, Joshua, the 
successor of Moses, effected his purpose on the east of Canaan. 
This change in the point of attack, changed also the enemy to 
be attacked ; for the people on the east of Canaan, not being 
assisted by those on the west, their subjection was more easy. 
The passage of the Jordan, too, cut off the southern part of 
Canaan from the northern ; and by being thus divided, each 
division opposed less resistance, as they could not act in con- 
cert together ; and more force could be employed against each, 
under the entire uncertainty of what district would be next 
invaded. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE CONGIUEST OF CANAAN. 

I. The Country east of Jordan. 
1. The original inhabitants of the country east of Jordan. 

As it may be of use, for the clearer understanding of sa- 
cred history, we shall first give a short account of the several 
people who successively held dominion in these regions. 

It has been formerly observed that Uz, one of the sons of 
Aram, settled in the parts of Syria about Damascus ; and so 
this country beyond Jordan, of which we are now speaking, 
was probably at first possessed by the descendants of Uz. 
Whence it is thought, by many ancient as well as modern 
writers, that the Land of Uz, mentioned in the book of Job, 
is the country lying originally between Damascus on the north, 
and the plantation of Cush, or Arabia, on the south ; having 
the Land of Canaan on the west, and Arabia Deserta east. 
But when Abraham . first sojourned in the Land of Canaan, 
we find this country possessed by the Rephaim, Zuzim, and 
Emim ; names which imply men of more than ordinary 
strength, and of a gigantic race. (Deut. ii. 10-21.) These 
are thought not to be the descendants of Uz, but perhaps of 



52 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

the Anakim and Rephaim, Canaanitish giants, who might 
have seized on the country for themselves. It is said (Deut. 
iii. 11.) that Og, a king of the Amorites, was of the Rephaim. 

The country east of Jordan being depopulated by the great 
overthrow given to the inhabitants of it, the Rephaim, Zuzim, 
and Emim, by Chedorlaomer, (Gen. xiv. 5.) and by the num- 
bers that were probably carried away captives, the descend- 
ants of Lot, i. e. the Moabites and Ammonites, found it no dif- 
ficult matter to settle in these parts. For we read (Deut. ii. 
9. 10.) that the Moabites possessed the country wherein the 
Emim dwelt, in times past ; and also, (verse 19. 20.) that the 
Ammonites possessed the country wherein the Zamzummim 
or Zuzim dwelt in old times. The river Jabbok seems to have 
been the boundary between the Rephaim and the Zamzum- 
mim, and it does not appear that the country of the Rephairr 
was ever possessed by the descendants of Lot. It is observer 
(Deut. iii. 11.) that Og, king of Bashan, was of the remnant 
of the Rephaim or giants ; so that it is probable that they still 
kept up their kingdom under a ruler of their own, until con- 
quered by the Israelites. 

2. Land of the Ammonites. 

It seems from Judges xi. 13, that the country east of Jor- 
dan from the river Jabbok, as far south as the Arnon, was the 
land of the Ammonites ; yet it is certain that the south part 
of it towards the AiT-on was formerly inhabited by the Moab- 
ites. Some have conjectured that the Moabites in this part 
were tributary, or under subjection to the Ammonites, and so 
the king of the Ammonites might claim the whole country 
between the two rivers, as belonging to him. Besides this, 
the Ammonites possessed a considerable tract to the east, be- 
yond the hills that bounded the eastern part of the country 
beyond Jordan. This they still held after they were dispos- 
sessed of the country immediately on the east of Jordan by 
the Amorites ; and this country east of those hills, where they 
still kept their ground, is in Scripture called the Land of the 
Children of Ammon. 

The principal city of the Ammonites was called Rabbah : 
Stephanus says that it was also called Ammana, either from 
Ammon, the founder of the nation, or from its being the chief 
city of the children of Ammon. Dr. Wells thinks it probable 
that the name may have come from a city of the Zuzim in 
this country, called Ham. This city was in after ages called 
Philadelphia, from Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, who, 



CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 53 

having made himself master of this country, repaired and 
beautified the city : but it never occurs under this name in 
Scripture. 

3. Land of the Moabites, 

Besides the country which the Moabites possessed north of 
the Arnon, and which Sihon, king of the Amorites, took from 
them, they possessed also a tract south of that river, between 
Edom to the west, and Midian to the south and east. This 
they held, after the loss of the other part of their country. 
The chief city of the Moabites was Ar, called by the Greek 
writers Areopolis ; it was sometimes also called Moab. 

After the captivity of the ten tribes, the Moabites repossess- 
ed themselves of several places north of the river Arnon ; 
from which it happens that in the prophecies against Moab, we 
find Heshbon and several other places, once belonging to the 
tribes of Reuben and Gad, mentioned as belonging to the 
Moabites. 

4. Kingdoms of Sihon and Og. 

Sihon was king of the Amorites who had come from the 
west of Jordan and dispossessed the Moabites and Ammonites 
on the east of that river. This kingdom was bounded north 
by the river Jabbok, which separated it from the kingdom of 
Og; east by the mountains which bounded it from the Am- 
monites ; south by the Arnon, between it and the Moabites , 
and west by the Jordan, which parted it from Canaan. The 
capital city was Heshbon. 

The kingdom of Og lay north of the river Jabbok, extend- 
ing northward as far as Mount Hermon, a part of the chain 
called Mount Lebanon ; having the Jordan on the west, and 
the hills of Gilead on the east. It is also called the kingdom 
of Bashan, whence came the Greek word Batanea, denoting 
these parts in after ages. The chief cities of this kingdom 
were Ashtaroth and Edrei. Ashtaroth lay in the north, and 
is otherwise called Ashtaroth-Karnaim, whence the name 
Carnea, by which it was afterwards known. Edrei was more 
southerly, and was in later ages called Adara. 

5. Kedemoth and^Jahaz. 

The wilderness of Kedemoth, whence Moses sent messen- 
gers to Sihon, king of Heshbon, (Deut. ii. 26.) lay along the 
river Arnon, in the eastern part of the country, and is proba- 
bly the wilderness mentioned in Judges xi. 22. Jahaz was a 
place in, or near, this wilderness. 
E2 



54 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

6. Argob, Bashan, and Gilead. 

These were parts of the kingdom of Bashan. (Deut. iii. 4. 
and 13, 14, 15.) Argob seems to have been a part of this 
kingdom given to Jair, as Gilead was to Machir ; so that the 
two probably formed the country or kingdom of Bashan. Gi- 
lead was the part wherein were the mountains or hills of 
Gilead ; consequently Argob was the remaining, or northern 
part. 

7. Pethor, the city of Balaam. 

Balaam was a famous soothsayer or diviner of those times, 
who was sent for by the king of Moab to curse the people of 
Israel, because he feared them. (Numb. xxii. 3-6.) Pethor, 
the city where he dwelt, is called in Hebrew Pethura. It is 
called Pachora, by Ptolemy, and Pathura by Eusebiii3, who 
places it in Upper Mesopotamia. Calmet supposes it to be 
situated towards Thapsacus, beyond the Euphrates. It was 
certainly in Mesopotamia. (Deut. xxiii. 4.) 

8. Peor, or Baal Peor. 

Peor is thought to have been a part of the mountains of 
Abarim. On this mount seems to have stood the temple of an 
idol, called Peor, or Baal Peor ; in whose sacrifices the Israel- 
ites partook, while encamped in the plains of Moab, by which 
they greatly provoked God. (Numb. xxv. 1-5.) 

II. The Country west of Jordan, or Canaan Proper. 

Moses having died, Joshua succeeded him as leader of the 
Israelites, and prepared to pass the Jordan. On the day after 
the return of the two spies who hud been sent to Jericho, he 
removed the camp from Shittim, and came to Jordan. (Josh, 
iii. 1.) Here they remained three days, after which they 
crossed Jordan, opposite Jericho, on dry ground ; the waters 
which came down from the upper part of the stream standing 
and rising up in a heap, as far as from the city Adam, 
which was a city on the east of Jordan, not far from where 
they crossed. 

1. Gilgal. 

This was the station where they encamped, after having 
crossed the Jordan ; and the place where circumcision was re- 
newed ; it having been neglected during their wanderings in 
the desert. (Josh. v. 2-9.) Gilgal was situated between the Jor- 
dan and Jericho. Josephus says that Jericho was sixty furlongs 
from Jordan, and that Gilgal was fifty ; hence from Gilgal to 



CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 56 

Jericho was ten furlongs westward, or about a mile and a 
quarter. Others say, two miles. 

2. Jericho, 

This was the first city taken by Joshua from the Canaan- 
ites : he destroyed it, and pronounced a severe curse on him 
who should rebuild it. This was, however, done, about 530 
years after, by Hiel, the Bethelite, (1 Kings xvi. 34.) on whom 
the curse accordingly fell. This was the city honoured by 
the presence of our Saviour, and where he wrought some 
miracles. It was destroyed by the Romans, during the siege 
of Jerusalem, on account of the treachery of its inhabitants. 
A third city was afterwards built, but it seems not exactly in 
the place where stood the former two ; as Eusebius tells us 
that in his day the ruins of both the former were still shown. 
Jericho is now called Raha, or Eriha, and is a poor dirty 
village, inhabited by Arabs. It is six leagues north-east from 
Jerusalem, and stands in a plain, surrounded by barren moun- 
tains. This plain is, however, extremely fertile,!ind is watered 
by a number of rivulets which flow into the Jordan. 

In the latter days of the Jewish government, Jericho was 
reckoned the second city in Judea ; in its royal palace Herod 
died : it had also magnificent theatres and other noble build 
ings. Here was also established a famous theological semi 
nary, or school of prophets ; in which, says the Jerusalem Tal- 
mud, were twelve thousand priests, ready to supply deficien- 
cies which might occur in the temple at Jerusalem. 

3. The valley of Achor. 

After the destruction of Jericho, Joshua sent two or three 
thousand men against Ai ; but these being beaten, he inquired 
the reason of God, and was answered that it was because 
some of the Israelites had sinned. The offender was found 
to be Achan, who was put to death in the Valley of Achor, 
so named from the trouble brought upon the Israelites by this 
sin ; the Hebrew word Achor signifying trouble. It is evi- 
dent that this valley must have been near Jericho. 

4. Ai, and Bethaven. 

On the second attack, Joshua took Ai by stratagem and 
burnt it. We have already mentioned this place under the 
name of Hai, in our account of the sojourning of Abraham. 
It lay east of Bethel, and not far from it. Eusebius and Jerom 
say that in their time some small rums of it were yet remain- 
ing. Masius tells us that Ai was three leagues from Jericho, 
and Bethel one league from Ai. 



56 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

Bethaven was near Ai, (Josh. vii. 2.) and seems to have 
been a distinct place from Bethel, though some have thought, 
from a passage in Hosea, that they were the same. The 
wilderness of Bethaven, in the north of the tribe of Benja- 
min, (Josh, xviii. 12.) was probably named from this place, 
and lay near it. 

5. Cities of the Gribeonites. 

The cities of the Gibeonites were Gibeon, Chephirah, 
Beeroth and Kirjath-jearim. (Josh. ix. 17.) 

Gibeon is said (Josh. x. 2.) to have been a great city, 
greater than Ai. It was situated on an eminence, about 
thirty furlongs from Jerusalem, northward, and not far from 
the city of Gibeah. According to Eusebius and Jerom, it was 
a royal city, and the metropolis of the Hivites. Eusebius says 
that it was still a town or village in his time, yet retaining its 
old name, being four miles west from Bethel. Of Chephirah 
nothing is known but the name, and that it afterwards be- 
longed to the tribe of Benjamin. 

Beeroth, say Eusebius and Jerom, lay near the hill of Gibe- 
on, being, in their days, a town or village in the road from 
Jerusalem to Sichem, seven miles from the former. 

Kirjath-jearim lay nine miles west from Jerusalem. It is 
frequently mentioned in Scripture. Here the ark abode 
twenty years, from the time it was sent away by the Philis- 
tines, till David removed it to Jerusalem. It was also the 
native place of Urijah, the prophet, who was slain by Jehoia- 
kim. (Jer. xxvi. 20.) 

6. Beth-horon, and Azekah. 

These places are mentioned in the account of the over- 
throw, by Joshua, of the kings of Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, 
and Eglon, who had confederated with the king of Jerusa- 
lem to attack the Gibeonites, after these last had made peace 
with Joshua. 

There appear to be two places named Beth-horon in Scrip- 
ture, i. e. the upper and the nether, (1 Chron. vii. 24.) and it 
seems they both lay in the tribe of Ephraim. The one men- 
tioned in this battle of Joshua with the kings, must have been 
in the south of Ephraim, not far from Gibeon ; Upper Beth- 
horon was further north. Azekah lay in the tribe of Judah, 
westward from Jerusalem. 

7. Ajalon. 

The Valley of Ajalon is famous as the place where the sun 
ind moon stood still, at the command of Joshua, until Israel 



CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 57 

had avenged themselves upon their enemies. The city of 
Ajalon probably stood in this valley ; it was situated between 
Timnath and Bethshemesh, in the tribe of Dan ; and was one 
of the cities given to the Levites. (Josh xxi. 24.) It seems, 
however, that the Danites were never able to drive the Amor- 
ites out of Ajalon. (Judges i. 35.) 

There were three other cities of this name ; one in the 
tribe of Benjamin, three miles east of Bethel ; another in 
Ephraim, two miles from Shechem, in the way to Jerusalem, 
east of Beth-horon; and a third in the tribe of Zebulon, the 
situation of which is not exactly known. 

8. Makkedah. 

Near this town was the cave where the five kings who had 
fled from Joshua, hid themselves, whom he, after the battle, 
put to. death. Makkedah was in the tribe of Judah, twelve 
or fourteen miles south-westward from Jerusalem. 

9. Libnah, and Lachish. 

These were cities taken by Joshua after Makkedah. (Josh. 
x. 29-32.) Libnah was in the tribe of Judah, not far from 
Makkedah ; being about sixteen miles south-west from Jeru- 
salem. 

Lachish was also in the tribe of Judah, near the last men- 
tioned places. It is frequently mentioned in Scripture ; and, 
together with Libnah, was besieged in the days of Hezekiah, 
king of Judah, . by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. (2 Kings 
xix. 8.) 

10. Gezer. 

"Horam, king of Gezer, came to help Lachish, and Joshua 
smote him and his people." (Josh. x. 33.) This Gezer lay in 
the south of the tribe of Ephraim, not far from Beth-horon, 
(Josh. xvi. 3.) and seems to have been a strong place, as it 
was not taken by Joshua, who only overcame the king and 
his people who had come to Lachish: Gezer itself seems to 
have held out until taken by the king of Egypt, by whom it 
was given to his daughter, the wife of king Solomon. (1 Kings 
ix. 16.) 
• 11* Eglon. 

The king of this city was another of the five kings : it was 
taken by Joshua after he liad conquered Lachish, from which 
it was not far ; being also in the west of the possessions of the 
tribe of Judah. / 

12. Debir, or Kirjath-sepher. 

After having taken Egloh, Joshua advanced against He- 



58 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

bron, which he also took. Of Hebron we have already treated. 
From Hebron he returned to Debir, and took it. (Josh. x. 36- 
39.) This city also had two other names, Kirjath-sepher, and 
Kirjath-sannah. (Josh. xv. 15 and 49.) The word Kiriath or 
Kirjath, in Hebrew, signifies a city, and Sepher a book ; 
whence some have thought that this Kkjath-sepher, or city 
of the book, was an old literary academy, or some learned in- 
stitution of the Canaanites. Others suppose it was so called 
from some writings or national records being kept there. The 
other name of this place, Kirjath-sannah, may mean the city 
of the bush, or of sharpening; denoting that it lay among the 
bushes or thickets, or the place where men's minds were 
sharpened by learning. This city lay not far from Hebron, in 
the south of Judah. 

13. Goshen, in Canaan. 

We read (Josh. x. 41.) that Joshua smote them from Ka- 
desh-barnea, even unto Gaza ; and all the country of Goshen, 
even unto Gibeon. This country of Goshen was situated in 
the southern part of the tribe of Judah, about a city called 
also Goshen ; possibly lying in a fat good soil, and so named 
from resembling the Land of Goshen in Egypt. 

14. The Waters of Merom. 

In this expedition Joshua had conquered all the south of 
Canaan, and so he returned with his army to Gilgal. This 
was seven years after the entrance of the Israelites into Ca- 
naan. They remained in the camp at Gilgal some time ; but 
the kings in the north, having heard of their conquests in the 
south, joined all their forces, and encamped at the waters of 
Merom, to fight against Israel. It is generally agreed that 
the waters of Merom, here mentioned, denote lake Semechon, 
near the head of Jordan, above the lake of Gennesareth/ 
During the melting of the snows in Mount Lebanon, Lake 
Merom overflows a space of about two leagues in circuit ; but 
in summer, during the great heats, it is nearly dry. This 
marsh is covered with reeds and shrubs, and the neighbour- 
hood is infested by wild beasts which come down from the 
neighbouring mountains. 

15. Hazor, Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph. 

Hazor, of which Jabin was king, lay near Lake Merom. 
Jabin, who appears to have been the chief prince in those 
parts, having summoned the other kings in the north of Ca- 
naan, to join him against Israel, they accordingly encamped 
together near the waters of Merom. But they were entire ■ 



CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 59 

ly routed by Joshua, who took Hazor, burnt it, and slew its 
king. The other cities were also taken, and their kings 
killed. Of the situation of Madon, nothing certain is known. 
Chimron lay in the tribe of Zebulon, west of the sea of Ga- 
lilee or Gennesareth. Achshaph was in the south of the 
tribe of Asher. 

16. City and Sea of Chinneroth. 

We read (Josh. xi. 2.) that besides the kings we have just 
mentioned, Jabin also sent to the kings of the plains south of 
Chinneroth, and in the valley, and in the borders of Dor, on 
the west. Chinneroth was an ancient city on the sea of Ga- 
lilee, which is hence sometimes called the Sea of Chinneroth. 
It is generally thought that Chinneroth was the city after- 
wards enlarged and ornamented by Herod, who gave it the 
name of Tiberias, from which this sea is also called the Sea 
of Tiberias. 

17. City of Dor. 

Dor was situated on the coast of the Mediterranean, a little 
to the north of Csesarea : it was a considerable place, and 
gave name to the country round about The city was strong, 
and difficult to attack, being built upon a peninsula which 
projected into the sea. This city was given to the half tribe 
of JManasseh, but they suffered the Canaanites to retain it 
Jerom says it is nine miles from Csesarea, and in his day waa 
desolate and uninhabited. The modern name of Dor is Tar- 
toura. It consists of a single street opposite the sea, and is 
resorted to by the Arabs and peasants, who barter their plun- 
der and commodities for rice and linens brought from Egypt 
in small vessels, the port being shallow, and not admitting 
large ships. - The only water in the place, fit to drink, is ob- 
^tained from a fountain which issues from a rock ten or twelve 
feet in the sea, which, when the waters are high, is completely 
covered with the waves. 

18. Land of Mizpeh, and Misrephoth-maim. 

a Jabin also sent to the Hivite under Hermon, in the Land 
of Mizpeh, (Josh. xi. 3.) ; and the Israelites chased theii 
enemies unto Great Zidon, and Misrephoth-maim, and unto 
the valley of Mizpeh, eastward, (verse 8.) The Land of Miz- 
peh here mentioned, is Che tract about Mount Gilead, other- 
wise called Mizpeh (Gen. xxxi. 49.) : So the valley of Miz- 
peh must denote some valley about Mount Gilead, which fre- 
quently denotes not only the mountain of that name, but clso 
the adjacent country as far as Mount Hermon, which, to- 



60 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

gether with Mount Halek and Seir, are only branches of 
Mount Lebanon. 

Misrephoth-maim is understood to have been near Zidon. 

In the twelfth chapter of Joshua, a summary is given of the 
one and thirty kings slain by the Israelites. We shall now 
proceed to notice those of their cities which have not been 
already mentioned. 

19. Jarmuth, Geder, Hormah, and Arad. 

Jarmuth was one of the cities given afterwards to the tribe 
of Judah, and lay not far south-west from Jerusalem. 

Geder was probably either Gederah or Gederoth, near Jar- 
muth ; but which of these cannot be determined. 

Hormah lay in the south-west of Canaan, in the tribe of 
Simeon ; and is probably the place mentioned in the journeys 
of the Israelites from Egypt, and v near which they were de- 
feated by the Amalekites. (Numb. xiv. 45.) 

Arad was in the south of Judah. King Arad is mentioned 
in Numb. xxi. 1. and xxxiii. 40. ; and we also read (Judges i 
16.) of the wilderness of Judah, in the south of Arad. 

20. Adullam, Tappuah, Hepher, and Aphek. 

- Adullam was in the tribe of Judah, south-west from Jeru- 
salem, remarkable for a cave near it into which David retired, 
whenhe withdrew from Achish, king of Gath. (1 Sam. xxii. 1.) 

There seem to have been two places named Tappuah ; one 
in the tribe of Judah, and another on the border of Manasseh, 
but belonging to Ephraim. It is not known which of these 
it was whose king was slain by Joshua. 

Hepher appears to be nowhere else mentioned in Scripture. 

Aphek was in the tribe of Asher, (Josh. xix. 30.) but as 
there were other places of this name, particularly one in Ju- 
dah, sometimes called Aphekah, it is uncertain which is re- 
ferred to in the present instance. 

21. Lasharon, Taanach, and Megiddo. 

The situation of Lasharon is not known. Some suppose it 
to be the country of Sharon in the west of Ephraim, between 
Caesarea and Joppa. 

Taanach is more than once mentioned in Scripture. It was 
a city of the Levites, and lay in the west of Issachar or Man- 
asseh, north-west from Samaria. , 

Near this was Megiddo, also lying on tjie west of Issachar, 
but belonging to Manasseh : the Canaanites continued to dwell 
in it, being tributary. (Josh. xvii. 11-13.) This city was 
rebuilt by Solomon, (1 Kings ix. 15.) and is further remarka- 



CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 61 

Me for the death of Ahaziah and Josiah, kings of Judah. It 
was situated about 44 miles north of Jerusalem, near the 
great plain of Esdraelon, and has been the scene of many bat- 
tles besides that in which Barak overcame the army of Jabin. 
(Judges v. 19.) Pharaoh and Josiah, Gideon and the Midian- 
ites, Saul and the Philistines, Judas Maccabeus and Trypho^ 
all fought here: and in later ages there were also in this 
place bloody combats between the Tartars and Saracens. It 
is called by ancient geographers, the capacious field of bat- 
tles.* The waters of Megiddo, (Judges v. 19.) probably mean 
the southern branches of the river Kishon, which flows north- 
westward to the Mediterranean. 

22. Kedesk and Jokneam. 

There were two places called Kedesh ; one in the tribe of 
Naphtali, (Josh. xix. 37.) called Kedesh Naphtali, which was 
probably the one whose king was killed by Joshua. The 
other was in Judah, (Josh* xv. 23.) and appears to have been 
a place of not much consequence. Kedesh Naphtali was the 
native place of Barak : it was one of the Levitical cities, and 
also a city of refuge. (Josh. xxi. 32.) 

Jokneam was a city in the tribe of Zebulon, also a city of 
the Levites. It was near Mount Carmel, and hence is called 
Jokneam of CarmeL 

23. Tirzah, 

This was a city of Ephraim, frequently mentioned in Scrip- 
ture, being for some time the royal city of the kingdom of 
Israel; that is, from the time of Jeroboam to the reign of 
Omri, who, having reigned six years in Tirzah, built Sama- 
ria, and removed the seat of government thither, where it 
continued until the downfall of the kingdom. It seems to 
have been a very beautiful and pleasant city, (Song vi. 4.) for 
which reason it was probably chosen as the royal residence. 

24. The Nations of Gilgal 

The king of the nations of Gilgal was also among those 
enumerated as having been . slain by the Israelites, and with 
him we close our account of the places belonging to the one 
and thirty kings. Nothing certain is known of the nations of 
Gilgal, but it is generally supposed that their country extend- 
ed along the Jordan as far north as the sea of Galilee. 

25. ShiloL 

In this place was the tabernacle of the congregation set 

* Campum prceliorem capacem. Cellarius, Geog. Antiq. 

F 



62 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

up, (Josh, xviii. 1.) within which the ark was kept ; and here 
it remained more than three hundred years, until taken by the 
Philistines in the time of the high-priest Eli, Shiloh was 
situated in the south part of the tribe of Kphraim, ten or 
twelve miles south from Shoehorn. To this place was proba- 
bly also removed the camp of the seven tribes who had not 
yet received their inheritance, namely, Benjamin, Simeon, 
Zebulon, [ssachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan; for we do not 
read of the division of the country among them till after the 
removal from Gilgal to Shiloh. (Josh, xviii.) The other tribes 
had been before provided for. 

26. Tinmath-scrah, and Gnash. 

Timnath-serah was the inheritance of Joshua, given him 
at his own request, (Josh. xix. 50.) and here he died and was 
buried. It was in the south of Kphraim, near Shiloh; and 
was otherwise called Timnath-heres. (Judges ii. 9.) Here 
the sepulchre of Joshua was shown in the days of Eusebius 
and Jerom. 

It is not certain what is meant by the expression "on the 
north side of the hill of Gaash." (Josh. xxiv. 30.) It may 
mean that the city was built on the north side of the hill, or 
that it was northward from the hill ; or that Joshua was buried 
on the north part of the hill, or northward of it. 

Having thus given an account of the principal places men- 
tioned in the Scripture history of the Conquest of Canaan by 
the Israelites, we shall now proceed to treat, of the division of 
the country among- the tribes. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

DIVISION OF CANAAN AMONG THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. 

The Israelites, so called from being descendants of Jacob, 
or Israel, were distinguished into twelve tribes, according to 

the number of the sons of Israel, who were called the twelve 
patriarchs, as being heads of these tribes. 

The names of these twelve patriarchs, according to the 
order of their birth, were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, 
Naphtali, Gad, Asher, lssachar, Zebulon, Joseph, and Ben- 
jamin. 

Of these tribes God chose that of Levi to minister about 
holy things, to wait at his altar, and to serve in his worship 



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DIVISION OF CANAAN. 63 

generally; he therefore ordained that they should live and 
be maintained with the things of the temple, partaking with 
the altar, and so be free from the common cares and concerns 
of life. Therefore, in the partition of the land, not one of 
the twelve parts into which it was divided, was given to the 
tribe of Levi, as an inheritance ; for their inheritance was the 
priesthood of the Lord. However, certain cities were as- 
signed them as habitations to dwell in, from which they are 
called Levitical cities. But the two branches of Joseph, viz. 
Ephraim and Manasseh, having two distinct allotments, 
made up the number of twelve geographical divisions to b& 
distributed among tne tribes. 

These, according to their geographical order or situation; 
beginning at the south of Canaan, may be reckoned thus: 
Judah, Simeon, Dan, Benjamin, Ephraim, Manasseh, (one 
half of it,) Issachar, Zebulon, Asher, Naphtali. These were 
all west of Jordan. On the east of that river were the por- 
tions of Gad and Reuben, with the other part of Manasseh. 

1. The Tribe of Judah. 

Judah was the most considerable tribe of Israel, on several 
accounts ; and in the division of the conquered country regard 
was primarily had to this tribe, and its lot is first noticed in 
Josh. xv. where we are told that it is next to the border of 
Edom, which was the southern boundary of Canaan. 

In the same chapter we have the bounds of this tribe laid 
down, in substance as follows : The south border was from the 
shore of that bay of the Salt Sea which looketh southward, 
i. e. from the south part of the Dead Sea, where it begins to 
be narrowed to a bay ; hence westward, passing along to Zin ; 
thence up on the south side to Kadesh Barnea, and so coming 
out to the river of Egypt, and then going out, i. e. termi- 
nating at the Mediterranean Sea. 

The eastern border was the Salt Sea, in its whole length 
from south to north, even to the end of Jordan, i. e. the mouth 
of that river where it empties into the Dead Sea at the north- 
ern extremity. 

The north border was from the bay of the Salt Sea, at the 
mouth of Jordan ; westward by the Valley of Achor to Enro- 
gel, and so, by the valley of the son of Hinnom to the south 
side of the Jebusite or Jerusalem ; thence to the top of the 
mountain west of the Valley of Hinnom, which is at the end 
of the Valley of Giants northward. Thence the border was 
drawn to Kirjath-jearim, and so passed along to the side of 



64 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

Mount Jearim on the north side, going hence down to Beth- 
shemesh, passing on to Zimnah ; and so to the side of Ekron, 
northward ; going out, or terminating at the sea. 

Its western border was the great, or Mediterranean Sea. 

These boundaries, however, comprehend the tribes of 
Simeon and Dan, who afterwards had their inheritance in the 
portion first allotted to Judah, which was found to be too large. 
(Josh. xix. 9.) Judah was therefore properly bounded on the 
south by Edom and the wilderness ; on the east by the Dead 
Sea ; on the north by the tribe of Benjamin ; and on the west 
by Simeon and Dan. 

2. Tribe of Simeon. 

The lot of Simeon was cast within the inheritance of Ju- 
dah, (Josh. xix. 1-9.) which was found to be too much for 
them. Accordingly, the same cities which we find at first 
allotted to the tribe of Judah, (Josh. xv. 26-32.) are afterwards 
mentioned as assigned to Simeon, (xix. 2-8.) Now as these 
cities are mentioned as being some of " the uttermost cities 
of the tribe of the children of Judah, towards the coast of 
Edom southward," so the tribe of Simeon must have been in 
the south, or south-west of Judah. 

The land of the tribe of Simeon was therefore bounded 
south by the southern limit of Canaan; east by Judah; north 
by Dan ; and west by the Mediterranean ; lying in the south- 
western corner. of the Land of Canaan. 

3. Tribe of Dan. 

The inheritance of Dan was also within the portion first 
allotted to Judah ; as appears by comparing Josh. xv. 33. &c. 
with xix. 41. &c. where we find cities mentioned first given 
to Judah and afterwards to Dan. The situation of this tribe 
has been generally agreed to have been in the north-west of 
the original portion of Judah, adjoining Ephraim on the north, 
and Benjamin on the east; though some writers think the 
north part of Judah extended up between Dan and Benjamin. 

Thus the boundaries of Dan were Simeon on the south ; 
Judah and Benjamin on the east; Ephraim on the north ; and 
the Great Sea on the west. 

4. Tribe of Benjamin. 

By comparing Josh, xviii. 15-19. with xv. 5-9. it appears 
that the north border of Judah was the same as the south bor- 
der of Benjamin; hence they must have been adjoining each 
other, Judah lying to the south and Benjamin north. The 
eastern border was the Jordan, (Josh, xviii. 20.) the northern 



DIVISION OF CANAAN. 00 

and western border was from Jordan, on the north of Jericho, 
through the mountains westward, to the wilderness of Beth- 
aven ; from thence over towards Bethel, and by the side of the 
hill on the south of nether Beth-horon, terminating near Kir- 
jath-jearim. 

The tribe of Benjamin was therefore bounded south by Ju- 
dah ; east by the river Jordan ; north by Ephraim, and west 
by Judah or Dan. 

Some geographers have made the tribe of Benjamin extend 
westward as far as the Mediterranean, on the ground that the 
Hebrew expression, in the fourteenth verse of chap, xviii. lit- 
erally translated, means that the west border compassed the 
corner of the sea southward. It is, however, evident, from 
other passages of Scripture, that the tribe of Benjamin did not 
extend to the sea on the west. In verse 12 the same word is 
rendered the west, and so perhaps it would have been better 
in the fourteenth, meaning the side towards the sea, i. e. the 
western side, towards the Mediterranean. By the expression, 
compassed the corner of the west, is to be understood that the 
western boundary there made an angle or corner. 

5. Tribe of Ephraim. 

The lot of the children of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh, 
was north of Benjamin ; for we read (Josh, xviii. 11.) that the 
coast of the lot of Benjamin came forth between the children 
of Judah and the children of Joseph. It has been already 
shown that Judah lay south of Benjamin ; it must therefore 
follow that the children of Joseph lay north. With regard to 
the eastern and western boundaries of Ephraim and Manasseh, 
it is manifest from Josh. xvi. 1-3. that they extended from the 
Jordan to the Mediterranean. By comparing chap. xvi. 1-7. 
with xvii. 11. it appears that the inheritance of the children 
of Joseph had Benjamin on the south, and Asher and Issa- 
char on the north. It also seems (xvi. 5-7.) that Ephraim was 
adjoining Benjamin; consequently, Manasseh was north of 
Ephraim. 

Ephraim was therefore bounded on the east by the Jordan ; 
on the south by Judah and Dan ; on the west by the Mediter- 
ranean, and north by his brother Manasseh. 

6. Half the tribe of Manasseh, west of Jordan. 

It has been already stated that the possessions of Manasseh 
on the west of Jordan, lay north of Ephraim ; but the particu- 
lar boundary between them is obscure and not easily traced. 

From this situation of the portion of Manasseh west of Jor- 
F2 



DO SCRIt»TURE GEOGRAPHY. 

dan, its boundaries were Ephraim on the south ; the Mediter- 
ranean on the west ; Issachar on the north, and the Jordan on 
the east. 

7. The Tribe of Issachar. 

The boundaries of Issachar, particularly to the westward, 
are rather obscure. The border " went by Jezreel, and Mount 
Tabor, and its outgoings were at Jordan." (Josh. xix. 17-22.) 
By some writers this tribe has been supposed to extend quite 
to the Mediterranean. But if the lots of Ephraim and Man- 
asseh " met together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar 
on the east," (Josh. xvii. 10.) it is difficult to understand how 
Issachar could extend westward to the sea. 

The general boundaries of Issachar were Zebulon on the 
north ; the Jordan on the east ; Manasseh on the south ; and 
possibly the Mediterranean on the west. 

8. Tribe of Zebulon. 

It is agreed by geographers that Zebulon lay north of Issa- 
char; but the same difficulty occurs with regard to the west- 
ern limits, as in Issachar. Some make it extend to the sea ; 
others think it could not, if Manasseh joined Asher. Accord- 
ing to Josephus, the tribes of Asher, Zebulon, and Manasseh, 
all came up near Mount Carmel. 

Thus Zebulon appears to have been bounded on the north 
by Asher and Naphtali ; east by the Sea of Galilee ; south by 
Issachar, and west oy the Mediterranean, or partly by Asher. 

9. Tribe of Asher. 

The length of the portion assigned to Asher is clearly de- 
scribed in Scripture ; as it is said that it extended to Mount 
Carmel and to Great Zidon ; the former being to the south, 
and the latter to the north. This was a maritime country, 
from what we read in the song of Deborah, (Judges v. 17.) 
" Asher continued on the sea-shore, and abode in his creeks." 
Within this tribe was situated the great commercial city Tyre, 
called by the Hebrews Tzor, or Zor ; also Accho, called by 
the Greeks Ptolemais, once a celebrated port, now called Acra 
or Acre. 

Asher was bounded north and north-east by the extreme 
limits of the Land of Caanan towards Syria ; east by Naphtali ; 
south by Zebulon, or perhaps Manasseh or Issachar ; and west 
by the Mediterranean Sea, 

10. Tribe of Naphtali. 

The situation of Naphtali is clearly described, (Josh. xix. 
33, 34.) lying between Asher and the Jordan, from Mount 



DIVISION OF CANAAN. 67 

Lebanon north, to Zebulon south. It probably also extended 
to the sea of Cinneroth or Galilee, as the city of Chinneroth 
belonged to Naphtali. The place mentioned in v. 34, called 
Judah upon Jordan, certainly could not mean the portion of 
the tribe of Judah, but probably some place so called upon the 
river Jordan, above the sea of Galilee. The LXX. transla- 
tors make no mention of the word Judah in this place, but 
only the Jordan, which they make the eastern border. 

The boundaries of Naphtali therefore were, on the north, 
the mountains which separated Canaan from Syria ; on the 
east,, the river Jordan ; on the south, the tribe of Zebulon, and 
the sea of Cinneroth, and the tribe of Asher on the west. 

11. Tribe of Reuben. 

The tribes of Reuben and Gad, with half the tribe of Man- 
asseh, had their inheritance on the east of Jordan, in the 
country conquered from the kings Sihon and Og. 

To Reuben was allotted the southern part of this country ; 
consequently this tribe was bounded, east and south, by the 
river Arnon, which separated it from Ammon and Moab ; west 
by the river Jordan; and north and north-east by the tribe of 
Gad. 

12. The tribe of Gad. 

The portion of Gad lay north of Reuben, and was bounded 
west by the Jordan ; north by Manasseh ; east by the Ammo- 
nites ; and south by Reuben. 

13. Half the Tribe of Manasseh, east of Jordan. 

This half tribe had for its boundaries, on the west, the sea 
of Cinneroth, or Galilee, and the Jordan above that sea, com- 
monly called Upper Jordan or Lesser Jordan ; on the north, 
that branch of Lebanon called Mount Hermon ; on the east, 
a continuation of the same mountains, or Mount Gilead ; and 
on the south and south-west, the tribe of Gad. 

In concluding our account of the situation and boundaries 
of the twelve tribes, we would remark that the Scripture ac- 
count of their limits and borders contains many names of 
places scarcely noticed anywhere else in the sacred volume, 
and the situations of which are now very uncertain. These 
we have omitted, as being of little use to the understanding 
of the subject, and only tending to confuse and perplex the 
reader. 

14. Cities assigned to the Levites. 

It has been before observed that in the partition of the land 
of Canaan, the Levites had no portion assigned them among 




68 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

the rest of the Israelites ; for their inheritance was the priest- 
hood of the Lord. Certain cities were, however , set apart 
for them to dwell in, which from this circumstance have been 
generally called Levitical cities. Of these a particular 
account is given in Josh. xxi. 

There were three branches of the Levites, descendants of 
the three sons of Levi ; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Aaron, 
the high-priest, was of the family of Kohath. To each of 
these branches of the Levites, their cities were assigned by 
lot, in the same manner as the Land of Canaan was divided 
among the other tribes. The whole number of Levitical 
cities was forty-eight. Josh. xxi. 4-7. 

15. The Sacerdotal Cities. 

The thirteen Levitical cities which were assigned to the 
children of Aaron, the priests, are called by some writers 
sacerdotal, or priests' cities. For though Aaron and his chil- 
dren, the priests, were Levites; yet all the Levites were not 
priests : the priesthood appertaining particularly to the chil- 
dren of Aaron. 

It is remarkable that the lots of these thirteen sacerdotal 
cities all fell within the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benja- 
min : so that they were not only in the tribes nearest to Jeru- 
salem, but were so situated, that on the revolt of the ten 
tribes, they remained subject to the house of David, as did 
also Jerusalem, the place of God's more especial worship. 
These lots were so ordered by divine providence, that twelve 
of the thirteen cities fell within the tribes of Judah and Ben- 
jamin, and the thirteenth, Ain, (Josh. xxi. 16.) or Ashan, (1 
Chron. vi. 60.) was so near the border of Simeon, as to be 
sometimes called a city of Judah. 1 Chron. vi. 57-60. So 
that it is probable that this, among several other places on the 
border of that tribe, still remained subject to the king of 
Judah. 

16. The Cities of Refuge. 

These cities were designed as an asylum for those who 
might accidentally kill a person, " that the slayer might flee 
thither for refuge from the avenger of blood." Josh. xx. 2. 
These cities of refuge were six ; namely : Kedesh, in Galilee, 
in mount Naphtali ; Shechem, in mount Ephraim ; Hebron, in 
the mountains of Judah ; Bezer, in the tribe of Reuben ; Ra- 
moth-Gilead, in the tribe of Gad ; and Golan, in the tribe of 
Manasseh. The three former lay west of Jordan, and the 
three latter east. These were all also Levitical cities. 



CONCLUSION OF PART I. W 

Conclusion of Part L 

Thus, having given a view of the first habitation of man- 
kind on the earth ; their destruction by the universal deluge, 
except the favoured remnant preserved in the ark ; the re- 
peopling of the world by the posterity of Noah, in their seve- 
ral settlements ; the migrations of Abraham, who was called 
by God to be the progenitor of his peculiar people ; and of 
Jacob the father of the twelve tribes ; their bondage in Egypt, 
and their going out therefrom into the land promised by God 
for their inheritance ; with their conquest of, and final settle- 
ment in it ; we shall now conclude the first part of our work. 

It may, perhaps, appear to the reader as though some places 
had been omitted, and that others have been but slightly no- 
ticed ; for these he is referred to Part II. in which we design 
to give an alphabetical account of all the places of any im- 
portance mentioned in Scripture, with such geographical de- 
scriptions and sketches of their history, as may conduce to a 
proper and better understanding of the sacred volume, as fax 
as these circumstances are concerned. 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



PART II. 

A Geographical Dictionary of the Bible : containing, in ah 
phabetical order, a description of the Countries, Kingdoms, 
Nations, Provinces, Cities, Towns, Villages, Mountains, 
Hills, Rivers, Lakes, Seas, Islands, <fyc. mentioned in the 
Holy Scriptures. 



Abana, a river of Damascus, in Syria. 2 Kings, v. 12. 
This river rises in the mountains of Hermon, or Anti-Libanus, 
on the north-east of Canaan, flows north-eastward and unites 
with the Pharpar : it passes by the city of Damascus, four or 
five leagues beyond which, its waters are lost in the sands of 
the desert. It was known to the Greeks and Romans by the 
name of Chrysorrhoas, but it is at present called Barrady. 

Abarim, a chain of mountains east of the Jordan, between 
that river and the Arnon. Numb, xxxiii. 47. See Part L 
p. 49. 

Abel-beth-maacah, a city of the tribe of Naphtali, in the 
north of Canaan ; taken by Benhadad, king of Syria, and 
afterwards by the king of Assyria. 1 Kings, xv. 20. and 2 
Kings, xv. 29. 

Abel-carmaim, or keramin, Abel of the Vineyards, a place 
belonging to the Ammonites, so named from the abundance 
of vines in the neighbourhood. Jud. xi. 33. 

Abel-maim, a city belonging to the tribe of Naphtali, near 
lake Merom, on the west. 2 Chron. xvi. 4. 

Abel-meholah, a city of Manasseh, west of Jordan, famous 
as the birth-place of Elisha, the prophet. 1 Kings, xix. 16. 

Abel-mizraim, i. e. the mourning of the Egyptians; a 
place supposed to be not far from Hebron, in the south of Ju- 
dea ; so named from the great mourning made there by Joseph 
and his brethren, with the principal persons among the Egyp- 
tians, for Jacob, whose body they had brought out of Egypt, 
that it might be buried with his fathers. The Canaanites, 



ACC 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



71 



supposing them all to be Egyptians, accordingly named the 
place Abel-mizraim. Gen. 1. 

Abel-Shittim, a city in the plains of Moab, east of Jordan. 
Numb, xxxiii. 49. See Part L p. 53. 

Abez, a city belonging to the tribe of Issachar. Josh, 
xix. 20. 

Abilene, a province in Ccelo- Syria, on the north-east of 
Canaan or Galilee, lying west from Damascus. Lysanias was 1 
governor of this province in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. 
Luke iii. 1. Its capital city was Abila, or Abilene, respect 
ing the situation of which geographers differ. We think, 
however, that ancient medals of this place decide, beyond a 
doubt, that Abila was on the river Chrysorrhoas, which ran 
from the mountains of Anti-Libanus eastwardly towards Da- 
mascus. 

No. 1, is a medal 
of Abila, represent- 
ing on one side the 
head of Faustina, 
wife of the emperor 
Marcus Aurelius ; 
and on the other a 
bunch of grapes, 
with the Greek in 
scription, leuk. abi- 
la, and the date 236. This proves that the Greek name, Leucas, is 
the same as the Hebrew Abila, or Abel, since both appear on the 
same medal. The grapes may possibly refer to Abel-carmaim, Abel of 
the vineyards. 

No. 2. A medal of the Abi- 
lene of Lysanias, with the 
image of the river Chrysor- 
rhoas, and the inscription 

KRYSOROAS KLAUDIAION On 

one side, and on the other the 
figure of Victory, with the 
inscription leukadion: prov- 
ing that this Leucadia or 
Abilene was situated on the river Chrysorrhoas, which was the Abana 
of Scripture. It is likely that the title Klaudiaion was taken in ac- 
knowledgment of favours received from the emperor Claudius. 

Accad, an ancient city in the Land of Shinar, built by 
Nimrod. Gen. x. 10. This name is also written by ancient 
authors, Achad, Archad, and Achar. According to Jerom 
and other old writers, it is the place which was afterwards 
called Nisibis by the Greeks and Romans. See Part L p. 14- 





72 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. ADA 

Accho, See Ptolemais. 

Achaia. A province in Greece, of which Gallio was de- 
puty in the time of the apostle. Acts xviii. 12. The Romans 
divided Greece into two provinces ; Macedonia and Achaia. 
Macedonia included Thessaly and Epirus ; and Achaia, Greece 
Proper, and the Peloponnessus. But Achaia, properly so 
called, was a small country in Greece, lying along the gulf 
of Corinth, on the south ; having Sicyonia on the east, Arca- 
dia and Elis on the south, and the Ionian Sea on the west. Its 
capital city was Patrse, Patara, or Patras. 

Achmetha, supposed by some learned men to be the city 
called by the Greeks Ecbatana, the capital of Media. In 
Ezra vi. 2. we read that " there was found at Achmetha, in the 
palace, that is in the province of the Medes, a roll," &c. In 
the Vulgate Bible, the word is translated Ecbatana in Media. 

But several interpreters render the word Achmetha, a 
strong box, or coffer, which lay amongst the old records of 
Media, in which was found a copy of the edict of Cyrus, per- 
mitting the Jews to return to their own country. See Ecbatana. 

Achor, a valley near Jericho. Josh. vii. 26. See Part I. 
p. 55. 

Achsaph, a city belonging to the tribe of Asher, the king 
of which was conquered by Joshua. Josh. xii. 20. 

Achzib, a city of the tribe of Asher, (Josh. xix. 29.) thought 
to be the same which the Greeks called Ecdippa, the modern 
name of which is Zib. It was near the Mediterranean, be- 
tween Tyre and Accho or Ptolemais, nine miles north of the 
latter. In the time of Jerom, about four hundred years after 
Christ, this place was a small village called Chasalus. It has 
been thought by some that Achzib and Achsaph are but dif- 
ferent names for the same town. 

In the tribe of Judah was also another place called Achzib. 
Josh. xv. 44. 

Acraeatene, a district of Judea, extending between She- 
chem and Jericho, about twelve miles in length, frequently 
mentioned by Josephus. There seems also to have been an- 
other district of this name in the south of Judea, on the bor- 
ders of Idumea or Edom. 1 Mace. v. 3. 

Adadah, a city of the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 22. 

Adad-rimmojv, or Hadad-rimmon, a place in the valley of 
Jezreel or Megiddo, where king Josiah was killed by Pha- 
raoh-necho, king of Egypt. It was situated about ten miles 
north-west from Jezreel. 2 Kings xxiii. 29. 



ADR DICTIONARY OP THE BIBLE. 73 

Adam, or Adom, a city on the east of Jordan, over-against 
Jericho ; the place where the waters of the Jordan parted to 
allow a passage for the Israelites across the river on dry 
ground. Josh. iii. 16. 

Adamah, a city of the tribe of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 36. 

Ad asa, (1 Mace. vii. 40.) said by Jerom to be a town in 
the tribe of Ephraim. 

Adithaim, a city belonging to the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 36. 

Admah, one of the five cities which, for their wickedness, 
were destroyed by fire from heaven, and buried under the 
waters of the Dead Sea. See Part I. p. 31. 

Adoraim, a city of Judah, fortified by Rehoboam. 2 Chron. 
xi. 9. 

Adramyttium, a sea-port town of Mysia, in Asia Minor, 
lying opposite the island of Lesbos or Mitylene. According 
to Aristotle, it was named from Adramyttus, son of Alyattes, 
king of Lydia, and brother of Croesus, who built it. 

It is probable that the ship of Adramyttium, into which 
St. Paul entered at Csesarea, (Acts xxvii. 2.) was one which 
was returning home to its own port, and so coasted along the 
shores of Asia Minor. 

No. 1. is a medal of 
Adramyttium, showing 
that Castor and Pollux, 
the deities of mariners, 
(Acts xxviii. 11.) were 
reverenced in this city : 
the comucopiae, be- 
tween the two stars, 
refers to the goddess 
Fortune, also a mari- 
time deity. 



On No. 2. are 

the figures of 
Minerva and 
Jupiter, which 
show that these 
divinities were 
also worship- 
ped here. 




/4 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. AIN 

Adria, a name anciently given to that part of the Medi- 
terranean Sea adjacent to Sicily, and south-east of Italy. Ac- 
cording to Ptolemy, it extended from Sicily to Crete ; and 
Strabo says that the Ionian gulf is a part of what was then 
called the Adriatic Sea. Some have inquired how a ship 
could be tossed up and down in the Adriatic, and driven on 
the coast of Malta, or Melita. (Acts xxvii. 27. and xxviii. 1.) 
This indeed could not be the case with regard to the Adria- 
tic, in its modern confined extent ; but according to the larger 
sense, mentioned above, in which the term was used by the 
ancients, it is perfectly clear that St. Paul's tempestuous voy- 
age from Crete to Malta, was in that part of the Mediterra- 
nean then called the Adriatic Sea. 

Josephus relates that on his voyage from Judea to Rome, 
he was shipwrecked in the Adriatic sea, and after being 
taken up by a ship from Cyrene, was carried to Puteoli. From 
this and other ancient authorities, there can be no question 
that a considerable portion of the Mediterranean east of Italy, 
was anciently called the Adriatic sea. 

Adullam, a city in the tribe of Judah. See Part L p. 38. 

Adummim, a town or mountain in the border of the tribe of 
Benjamin. (Josh. xv. 7. xviii. 17.) It was notorious for being 
the haunt of robbers ; and being on the road from Jerusalem 
to Jericho, is supposed to be the place where the traveller 
was robbed, who was afterwards relieved by the good Samari- 
tan. Luke x. 

Africa, one of the four quarters of the world ; being a large 
peninsula, joined to Asia by the narrow isthmus of Suez. It 
is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea, which separates it 
from Europe, on the north ; by the isthmus of Suez and the 
Red Sea, which separate it from Asia, on the north-east ; by 
the Indian Ocean on the east ; the Southern Ocean on the 
south ; and the Atlantic on the west. Only the northern parts 
of this country, including Egypt, and the adjacent regions, 
are mentioned in Scripture. Africa was principally peopled 
by Ham and his descendants, as we have more particularly 
explained in the foregoing part of this work. 

Ahava, a river of Babylon or Assyria, where Ezra gathered 
the captive Jews together, whom he brought with him into 
Judea. JEJzra, viii. 15. 

Ai, a city in Canaan near Jericho. Josh. vii. and viii. See 
Part I. p. 55. 

Ain, a city of the tribe of Judah, given afterwards to Si- 



ALE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 75 

meon. It was also one of the Levitical cities. Josh. xv. 32. 
xix 7. xxi. 16. 

Ajalon, a city of the tribe of Dan, assigned to the Levites; 
situated between Timnath and Bethshemesh. There were 
three other cities of this name : one in Benjamin, three miles 
east of Bethel, fortified by Rehoboam, (2 Chron. xi. 19.) 'an- 
other in Ephraim, between Shechem and Jerusalem, which 
was a city of refuge, and another in the tribe of Zebulon, east 
of Mount Carmel. 

Akrabbim, See Acrabatene. 

Alammelech, a city in the south-west of the tribe of Asher. 
Josh. xix. 26. 

Alema, a great and strong city in the country of Gilead, 
east of Jordan. 1 Mace. v. 26. 

Alexandria, a famous commercial city of Egypt, built by 
Alexander the Great. St. Paul sailed in ships belonging to 
this port. (Acts xxvii. 6. and xxviii. 11.) It was situated on 
the west of the Delta, between lake Mceris and the Mediter- 
ranean, thirty-three miles south-west from Rosetta, and about 
one hundred north-westward from Cairo. The body of Alex- 
ander the Great was carried from Babylon and deposited here 
in a coffin of gold. The favourable situation of this city, be- 
tween the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and on the waters 
of the Nile, drew to it the commerce of the east and the west, 
and soon rendered it one of the most flourishing cities in the 
world. The spices and other merchandise of India, were 
brought up the Red Sea, to Egypt, and so passed through 
Alexandria to the Mediterranean. But after the discovery 
of the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, around 
the south of Africa, its trade declined, so that at present it is 
little more than a village, having nothing remarkable but the 
ruins of its former grandeur. 

After the death of Alexander, it was the royal seat of the 
Ptolemies for two hundred years ; and when Egypt became a 
Roman province, it continued to be the metropolis or princi- 
pal city. It was taken from the Christians about the middle 
of the seventh century by Amrou, general of the caliph Omar, 
after a siege of fourteen months, in which he lost twenty- 
three thousand men. At this time the famous library was 
destroyed, in which successive kings had collected more than 
four hundred thousand, or, as others say, seven hundred thou- 
sand manuscripts or volumes. Among the ruins of this city 
are yet standing two obelisks of considerable height, covered 



76 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. AMA 

with hieroglyphics : and Pompey's pillar, which is one entire 
piece of granite, forty feet high, and twenty-five feet in cir- 
cumference. Part of the ancient Pharos, or watch-tower, is 
also yet standing, and is now a castle, useful in directing ves- 
sels into the harbour. Some parts of the ancient walls of the 
city yet remain, having large square towers two hundred 
paces apart : the gates are of Thebaic marble and granite. 
The water of the Nile was brought to the city by a canal 
during the inundation, and preserved in cisterns for use. 
Here is still to be seen the church of St. Mark, in which it is 
said the body of the evangelist was deposited, until some 
Venetians carried it to Venice, where is a celebrated church 
called St. Mark's. 

Alexandria was taken by the French in 1788, but was 
taken from them by the English in 1801, and restored to the 
Ottoman government. The city is called by the Turks Scan- 
deria or Iskanderia, and has a population of about thirty 
thousand. 

Opposite to this city is the little island of Pharos, in which 
the LXX. interpreters are said to have translated the Hebrew 
Bible into Greek, each in a separate cell or apartment. This 
translation is called the Septuagint, from the number of the 
translators. 

Almon, a city of the tribe of Benjamin ; (Josh. xxi. 18.) 
thought to be the same as Alemeth, given to the priests of 
Aaron's family. 1 Chron. vi. 60. 

Alush, one of the encampments in the wilderness. Part L 
p. 44. 

Amad, a city in the tribe of Asher. Josh. xix. 26. 

AmaleK. There appear to be several tribes of the people 
called Amalekites mentioned in Scripture, which, in a geo- 
graphical view, may be thus arranged : 

1. Amalek, the ancient, Gen. xiv. 7. where the phrase, " all 
the country of the Amalekites" implies considerable extent. 
This people probably dwelt near the Jordan. Numb: 
xxiv. 20. 

2. A tribe in the regions east of Egypt, between it and 
Canaan. Exod. xvii. 8. 1 Sam xiv. &c. 

3. The descendants of Eliphaz, son of Esau. Gen. xxxvi. 12* 
For the proper understanding of Scripture history, the dis- 
tinction between these should be observed. 

It was probably to the first of these that Balaam alluded, 



AMA DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 77 

(Numb. xxiv. 20.) as having been " head of the peoples ;" for 
the descendants of Esau could hardly have been meant, 
as they were then just appearing as a tribe or family. The 
Arab writers often mention, and glory in their descent from 
Amalek, and distinguish between families of pure Amalekite 
blood, and those of mixed descent, among whom they include 
those descended from Ishmael. 

It was the second of these divisions of the Amalekites, 
who attacked the Israelites, and against whom Moses and 
Joshua fought, (Exod. xvii. 8-13.) and against which tribe 
perpetual hostility was to be maintained, (verse 16. and 1 Sam. 
xv.) These dwelt near the borders of Egypt, west of Edom, 
and southward of Canaan, and appear to have been a fierce 
and warlike people. 

According to Moses, (Gen. xiv. 7.) the five confederated 
kings carried the war into the country of Amalek, about Ka- 
desh, in the time of Abraham, long before the birth of Amalek, 
the grandson of Esau ; which proves that these Amalekites 
could not have been his posterity. It is therefore thought 
probable that the Amalekites so often mentioned in Scripture, 
were a people descended from Canaan, devoted to the curse, 
as well as the others of his race, and very different from the 
descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau. The Arabian 
writers maintain Amalek to have been the son of Ham, and 
grandson of Noah ; they also say that he was the father of an 
ancient tribe in Arabia, exterminated in the reign of Saul ; 
in the latter particular agreeing with the Scripture account : 
This tribe, they say, contained only the Arabians who are 
called pure, the remains of which were mingled with the 
posterity of Joknan and Adnan, and so became Mosarabes, or 
mixed Arabians. They farther believe that Goliah, who was 
Killed by David, was a king of the Amalekites, and that the 
giants, who inhabited the Land of Canaan in the time of 
Joshua, were of the same race ; and finally, that part of the 
Amalekites, while Joshua was yet living, retired into Africa, 
and settled on the coast of Barbary. This agrees with in- 
scriptions said to have been found in Barbary, importing that 
the people who wrote them fled from Canaan, from the face 
of Joshua, the son of Nun, the robber. 

The Amalekites of the Scripture appear to have been a 
roving people, dwelling sometimes in one place, and some- 
times in another : it does not appear that they had cities, there 

G2 



78 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. AMM 

being but one mentioned in Scripture ; and they probably 
lived in hamlets, caves, and tents, resembling, in their wan- 
dering and ferocious character, their posterity, the modern 
Arabs. 

Aman, a city belonging to the tribe of Judah. Josh. 
xv. 26. 

Amana, a mountain east of Jordan ; some say the same as 
Mount Hor ; but others mention a mountain of that name in 
the half tribe of Manasseh, not far from Lake Merom. It is 
not certain whether the mountain called Amana, in the Song 
of Solomon, was this one, or another of the same name in 
Cilicia, into which country his government also extended. 

Ammah, a hill in the Land of Israel, near Hebron. The 
name signifies the hill of two ways, i. e. where two roads 
turned off. 2 Sam. ii. 24. 

Ammonites, a people descended from Ammon, the son of 
Lot. See Part I. p. 52. 

Ammon-no, an ancient city of Egypt, the situation of which 
is not certain. It is mentioned, Jer. xlvi. 25. Ezek. xxx. 15, 
16. in which passages the LXX. translators render it Diospo- 
lis, or the city of Jove. Now, there was a city of this name 
on that branch of the Nile, which ran by Zoan, or Tanis. But, 
according to Bochart, the Diospolis of these translators is 
rather the famous Thebes, in the south of Egypt. He supposes 
that the Jove, from whom it was named, was Ham, the son 
of Noah, and father of Misraim. His opinion is founded on 
this, that what we translate (Jer. xlvi. 25.) the multitude of 
No, is, in the Hebrew text, Amon-no, meaning the god Amon, 
whose temple was in the city No : whence this city is called 
Amon-no, in other places of Scripture. Now it is very pro- 
bable that Ham was the Amon here worshipped, as well as 
Jupiter Amon or Ammon, whose oracle was so famous in the 
adjacent parts of Africa. From the historian Diodorus we 
learn that the same city which was called Thebes from The 
bah an ark, was also called Diospolis, the city of Jupiter, 
that is, of Ham. The name No, is elsewhere written Neuh 
and Nau, which all, as well as Thebah, have some reference 
to Noah and the ark. Ammon refers to Ham, the progenitoi 
of the people who worshipped him, and hence the Greeks 
naturally called Amnion, Jupiter, and the city Diospolis. 

This city was very large and populous, adorned with temples, 
palaces, and columns, and is said to have had a hundred gates. 



AMP 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



79 



The ruins of Thebes have been visited by modern travellers, 
who state that they occupy a space of 27 miles in circumfer- 
ence. 

It must not be omitted that Jerom and other Greek and 
Latin writers, translate Ammon-no by Alexandria, which 
they suppose to have been built on the same place where 
the former city stood; but this is not considered very 
probable. 

Amorites, a people of Canaan. See Part I. p. 28. 

Amphipolis, a city at the head of the Egean Sea, near the 
mouth of the river Strymon, originally belonging to Thrace, 
but afterwards included in Macedonia. It was visited by St 
Paul and Silas. (Acts xvii. 1.) It was built by an Athenian 
colony, about 473 years before Christ ; was noted in the wars 
between the Athenians and Spartans, and was taken by 
Philip the Macedonian. In the division of Macedonia under 
the Romans, by Paul us Emilius, it was made the chief city 
of the first region of Macedonia, and a metropolis. It is now 
called Emboli by the Turks, but is not a place of much im- 
portance. 

Ancient medals of Amphipolis show that this city was of 
consequence. 




No. 1. A female figure, with the emblems of Ceres, the torch, and 
the ears of com ; also, with the shield of Minerva, and the sacred 
calathus of the Egyptian deity, Serapis. These probably indicate the 
east, the origin of light, and the country which first yielded food and 
drink for man. 

No. 2. Represents Augustus making a speech to his army, under the 
tutelage of Julius Caesar ; and is remarkable, as it seems to indicate a 
rivalship between Amphipolis and the neighbouring city, Philippi, 
where both these emperors were highly honoured. 



80 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



ANT 




No, 3. A bull, which appears originally to have been the emblem of 
Mount Taurus : the head of Apollo, on the same medal, agrees with 
this conjecture. They all have the inscription, Amphipoleiton. 

Anab, a city in the mountains of Judah. Josh. xi. 21. 

Anaharath* a city belonging to the tribe of Issachar. 
Josh. xix. 19. 

Anakim, a gigantic people of Canaan, descended from 
Anak. See Part I. p. 32. 

Anamim, descendants of Misraim. See Part I. p. 26. 

Anathoth, a city belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, 
(Josh. xxi. 18.) distant from Jerusalem, according to Eusebius 
and Jerom, about three miles. It was a Levitical city, of the 
family of Kohath, and a city of refuge ; also noted as the 
birth-place of the prophet Jeremiah. 1 Kings ii. 26. Isa. x. 
30. Jer. i. 1. 

Anem, a city in the tribe of Manasseh, given to the Levites 
of Kohath's family. 1 Chron. vi. 73. — Also, a city in the tribe 
of Judah, (Josh. xv. 50.) eight or ten miles east of Hebron. 

Aner, a Levitical city in the half tribe of Manasseh, west 
of Jordan. 1 Chron. vi. 70. 

Anti-lieanus, See Libanus. 

Antioch. There were anciently several cities of this name, 
of which two are particularly mentioned in sacred history, 
namely, Antioch in Syria, and Antioch in Pisidia. 

1. Antioch in Syria. This city, sometimes called the 
Greater Antioch, was situated upon both sides of the river 
Orontes, about twelve miles from the Mediterranean Sea. It 
was built, according to some historians, by Antiochus Epi- 
phanes ; but others say by Seleucus Nicanor, first king of 



ANT 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



81 



Syria, and named in honour of his father Antiochus. It was 
the royal seat of the kings of Syria, and, according to Strabo, 
not much inferior in power and dignity to Seleucia or Alex- 
andria: in fact, it was long the most powerful city of the 
east. It afterwards suffered much from earthquakes, as well 
as war, being several times taken by the Persians and Sara- 
cens. In the year 1098 it was taken by the Christian cru- 
saders, and in 1268 was taken and demolished by the Sara- 
cens. It is now called Antakia, and is but a ruinous town, 
with houses built of mud and straw, dirty and narrow streets, 
with filthy and wretched inhabitants. 

In Antioch, the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called 
Christians, (Acts xi. 26.) having been before, by way of 
derision, called Nazarenes, as the Jews scornfully call them 
to the present time, and as the Pagans called them Galileans. 
Here was also the birth-place of St. Luke, and of Theophilus 
Antiochenus; here also Paul and Barnabas remained and 
preached during a whole year. In the earlier times of 
Christianity, its bishop was honoured with the title of Patri- 
arch; the celebrated martyr, Ignatius, was one of its 
bishops. 

It was famous among the Jews for the Jus Civitatis, or 
right of citizenship, which Seleucus had given to them, in 
common with the Greeks and Macedonians, and which, 
Joseph us informs us, they continued to retain. These privi- 
leges contributed to render this place so desirable to the early 
Christians, who were at first considered as a sect of Jews, 
since here they could perform public worship in their own 
way, and enjoy all religious privileges without persecution or 
disturbance. This also accounts for the zeal of the apostles 
in introducing the gospel into Antioch. 




82 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



ANT 



No. 1. A medal of Antioch, representing Nemesis, the goddess of 
divine punishment; which shows that the people were not insensible 
to the nature and necessity of the divine government. 

No. 2. shows the importance of Antioch in ancient times, as we 
learn by the inscription, Antiocheon Metro. Kolon. which proves 
that it was dignified with the title of metropolis, &c. By other medals 
of this place, it appears that it had also the title of sacred and an asylum. 
No. 3. This is by far the most interesting 
medal to us, as Christians, from its inscription, 
Antiocheon epi. Satorninou — ovolo. The 
Antioclieans under Saturninus. This Satur- 
ninus was governor of Syria at the time of our 
Saviour's birth, according to Josephus ; and 
Tertullian even says that the enrolment or 
taxing (Luke ii. 1.) was made by him. Hence 
has arisen a difficulty, since St. Luke says that 
Cyrenius was governor of Syria at the time of 
the taxing. The letters ovolo on this medal 
are 'thought to stand for the name of Vo- 
lumnius, the colleague of Saturninus, at the time, of the date of this 
coin, which is el, 35, from the Julian era, corresponding with the year 
of Rome 740, which was about ten years before the death of Herod 
Cyrenius w 7 as appointed to Syria, probably on the death of Volumnius, 
aoout the year 746 or 747. Hence it appears that the account of St. 
Luke agrees with that of Josephus and Tertullian, and that the taxing 
was made by Cyrenius, who had succeeded Volumnius as procurator 
of Syria, associated with the governor Saturninus. 

2. Antioch in Pisidia, so called to distinguish it from other 
places of the same name, was the chief city of Pisidia, a small 
province of Asia Minor, north of Pamphylia. It was one of 
the sixteen cities said to have been founded by Seleucus in 
honour of his father Antiochus. Paul and Barnabas preached 
here with some success ; but the Jews raising a sedition against 
them, they were obliged to leave the city. Acts xiii. 14. 




No. 1. 



No. 2. 




APOL DICTIONARY OP THE BIBLE. 83 

No. 1. A medal of Antioch in Pisidia, representing the goddess 
Cybele, worshipped in this city. 

No. 2. A medal with the figure of the deity, Men, Meen, or Mensis , 
called in Hebrew Meni. The prophet says, (Isa. lxv. 11.) "Ye prepare 
a table for Gad , and furnish a drink offering to Meni" (The Hebrew 
words Gad and Meni, in the English translation of the Bible, are ren- 
dered that troop, and number.) Gad probably means the deity, Good 
Fortune, whose figure, with the cornucopia and rudder, appears fre- 
quently on ancient medals. The crescent on our figure of Mem, alludes 
to the moon, the " queen of heaven ;" and the worship of this deity oc- 
cupied the whole family, fathers, women and children, as we learn from 
Jer. vii. 18. ; and this was done " in the streets," in expectation of plenty, 
(chap. xliv. 17, 18.) the very idea of the cornucopia accompanying For- 
tune. 

Antipatris, a town in Samaria, north-west from Jerusa- 
lem, anciently called Caphar-salama, but named Antipatris by 
Herod, in honour of his father, Antipater. It was situated in 
the way from Jerusalem to Csesarea, and hither Paul and his 
guard came by night. Acts xxiii. 31. It was 42 miles from 
Jerusalem, and 26 from Csesarea. Josephus says it was 17 
miles from Joppa. 

Apamea, a city situated on the river Orontes in Syria, 
There was another city of this name in Phrygia in Asia Mi- 
nor, called also Kibotos, the ark; having on its medals a 
figure of the ark, and a man receiving a dove flying to him, 
with part of the inscription Noe : hence some have conjec- 
tured that the ark rested not far from this place, as the subject 
was doubtless annually celebrated in the city. Calmet, 
Script Must. 

Apharsachites, people sent by the kings of Assyria to in- 
habit the country of Samaria, in the room of those Israelites 
who had been removed beyond the Euphrates. Ezra v. 6. 

Aphek, the name of several cities mentioned in Scripture. 

1. Aphek, a town in the tribe of Asher. Josh. xix. 30. 
Judg. i. 31. 1 Sam. iv. 1. xxix. 1. 1 Kings xx. 30. 

2. Aphek, in the tribe of Judah. Josh. xii. 18. called Aphe- 
kah, xv. 53. 

3. Aphek in the tribe of Manasseh. • Josh. xii. 18. xiii. 
Appii-Forum, a place in Italy, about 50 miles from Rome, 

where Paul was met by some Christians, in his journey 
thither. Acts xxviii. 15. This place is thought to have been 
named the Forum of Appius, from the same Appius who gave 
name to the Appian way, near Rome. 
Apollonia, a city in the south of Macedonia, not far from 



84 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY 



ARA 



Amphipolis, through which St. Paul passed on his way to 
Thessalonica. Acts xvii. 1. 

Ar, the chief city of the Moabites, (Numb. xxi. 15. 28.) 
called also Rabbath Moab. It was situated upon the river 
Arnon, and was called by the Greek writers Areopolis. Some 
have supposed this city to have been the same with Aroer; 
but Aroer was given to the tribe of Gad, and was on the north 
side of the Arnon, whereas Ar belonged to the Moabites, and 
was consequently on the south side of that river. 

Arabia, a large tract of country in Asia, bounded north by 
Syria and Persia ; east by the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea ; 
south-east by the Indian Ocean ; south by the Straits of Babel - 
mandel, and west by the Red Sea, Isthmus of Suez, and the 
Land of Canaan or Judea : extending 1500 miles from north 
to south, and 1200 from east to west. The name Arabia is 
supposed to be derived from the Hebrew word Orebeh, a wil- 
derness or desert. 

This is one of the most interesting countries in the world. 
It has, according to prophecy, never been subdued ; and its in- 
habitants, at once pastoral, commercial, and warlike, are the 
same wild, wandering people, as the immediate descendants 
of their great ancestor Ishmael are represented to have been. 




Arab Tent. 
But though in the tribes of the desert his descendants are re- 
cognized, Arabia was not first peopled by him, but by some of 
the numerous families of Cush, as we have stated in Part I. ; 



ARA DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 85 

and it is not until about 550 years after the deluge that we 
read of the Ishmaelites and Midianites, as the shepherds and 
carriers of the deserts, and who were probably intermingled 
and shared the territory and the traffic, as the traders who 
bought Joseph are called by both names. 

Arabia has been divided by geographers into thr^c separate 
regions, called Arabia Petraea, Arabia Deserta, and Arabia 
Felix, 

Arabia Petraea is the north-western division ; bounded north 
by Judea and the Dead Sea ; east by Arabia Deserta ; south 
by Arabia Felix ; and west by the western arm or branch of 
the Red Sea and the Isthmus of Suez. The greater part of 
this division was more particularly the possession of the Midi- 
anites ; and in this region were the wanderings of the Israel- 
ites after leaving Egypt. Here were also seated the Edomites 
and Amalekites. The greater part of this district consists of 
sandy and stony plains, with naked rocks; but it contains 
some fertile spots, particularly in the neighbourhood of Mount 
Sinai, and in the range of Mount Seir. 

Arabia Deserta is bounded north and north-east by Persia; 
east by a range of mountains which separate it from Chaldea; 
south by Arabia Felix ; and west by Syria, Judea, and Arabia 
Petraea. This was more particularly the country, first of the 
Cushites, and afterwards of the Ishmaelites, as it is still of 
their descendants, the modern Bedouins, who maintain the 
same predatory and wandering habits. It consists almost en- 
tirely of one vast and lonesome wilderness, a boundless level 
of dry and burning sands, denying existence to all but the 
Arab and his camel. There are, however, scattered over this 
dreary waste, a few spots of vegetation, where a feeble spring 
of brackish water, with a few palm-trees, fix the principal 
settlement of a tribe, and afford stages of refreshment in these 
otherwise impassable deserts. 

Arabia Felix, so called from the happier condition of "its 
soil and climate, is situated in the southern part of the country. 
It is bounded on the north by the two other divisions ; east by 
the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea ; south-east by the Indian 
Ocean ; south by the Straits of Babelmandel ; and west by 
the Red Sea. It is divided into several provinces, of which 
Yemen, at the southern extremity, is represented as a well 
watered and fertile region, producing abundance of corn and 
fruits, and rich crops of the finest coffee, of which large quan- 
H 



86 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



ARA 



tities are exported. In the western part of this division are 
the cities of Mecca and Medina. 

The people of Arabia Felix claim descent direct from Jok- 
tan, the son of Heber, of the family of Shem, instead of Abra- 
ham and Ham, as the other Arabians ; and are indeed a total- 
ly different people from those inhabiting the other parts of the 
country. Instead of being shepherds and robbers, they live 
in towns and cities, and subsist by agriculture and commerce. 
These were the people who were found by the Greeks of 
Egypt, enjoying a monopoly of the trade with the East, and 
possessing a high degree of wealth and refinement. From 
them the precious spices and merchandise of the east were 
carried across the country to Egypt, by the Cushite, Ishmael- 
ite, and Midianite carriers, to a company of whom Joseph was 
sold by his brethren. 

It is a singular and important fact, that Arabia has never 
been conquered by any invader, and the people still inhabit 
the land of their fathers. It was prophesied in Scripture that 
they should be invincible, and their millions of inhabitants are 
so many witnesses of the truth of revelation. Every man's 
hand is against Ishmael, and his against every man ; and yet 
he dwells securely among his brethren. The body of the na- 
tion has escaped the yoke of the most powerful monarchies. 
The arms of Sesostris and Cyrus, of Pompey and Csesar, of 
Trajan and Napoleon, have never achieved the conquest of 
Arabia. The present sovereign of the Turks may exercise 
a shadow of jurisdiction ; but his pride is reduced to solicit 




Caravan crossing the desert. 



ARA DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 87 

the friendship of a people, whom it is dangerous to provoke, 
and fruitless to attack. Their domestic feuds are suspended 
on the approach of a common enemy, and in their last hostili- 
ties against the Turks, the caravan of Mecca was attacked 
and plundered by eighty thousand Arabs. When they advance 
to battle, the hope of victory is in the front, and the assurance 
of retreat in the rear. Mounted on horses and camels, which 
in a few days can perform a march of four or five hundred 
miles, they disappear before the conqueror ; the secret waters 
of the desert elude his search, and his victorious troops are 
consumed with thirst, hunger and fatigue, in the pursuit of an 
invisible foe, who scorns his efforts, and safely reposes in the 
heart of the burning solitude. 

The Arabians were confounded by the Greeks and Romans, 
under the general name of Saracens ; and by this they were 
called when Mahomet appeared in the seventh century. Their 
religion at this time was Sabianism, or the worship of the sun, 
moon, &c. intermingled with some Jewish and Christian max- 
ims and traditions. The tribes themselves were generally at 
variance one with another, and desultory skirmishes, arising 
from these feuds, were frequent. Yet of these discordant ma- 
terials Mahomet constructed a mighty empire ; converted the 
relapsed Ishmaelites into good Mussulmans ; united the jarring 
tribes under one banner ; and out of a banditti, little known 
and little feared beyond their own deserts, raised an armed 
multitude which proved the scourge of the world. During 
the whole of the succeeding century, the rapid career of his 
followers was unchecked ; the disciplined armies of the Greeks 
and Romans were unable to stand against them ; the Christian 
churches of Asia and Africa were annihilated ; and from India 
to the Atlantic, through Persia, Arabia, Syria, Palestine, Asia 
Minor, Egypt, with the whole of northern Africa, Spain, and 
part of France, the Impostor was acknowledged. Constanti- 
nople was besieged ; the Roman empire was plundered ; and 
nothing less than the subjection of the whole Christian world 
was meditated on the one hand, and expected on the other. 

But the five prophetic months (150 years) which this scourge 
was to last, (Rev. ix.) being fulfilled, the conquests of the 
Caliphs were checked. They were first defeated in France, 
by Charles Martel ; the Persians and Greeks were at length 
aroused from their thraldom; the Turks, issuing from the 
plains of Tartary, now first made their appearance in the east, 
and the power of the Saracen Caliphate was extinguished. 



88 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



ARA 



But although the foreign dominion of the Arabians was thus 
destroyed, their native independence was untouched ; for, re- 
turning to the state in which Mahomet found them, with the 
exception of their religion being changed, they remained, and 
still remain, the unconquered rovers of the desert. 

Arad, a city lying to the south of the tribe of Judah, 
twenty miles south of Hebron, according to Eusebius. See 
Part I. p. 60. 

Aradus, a small and rocky island on the coast of Syria* 
north of Tripolis. It is about a mile in circumference ; and 
two miles from the shore. Aradus is the Greek name for this 
place, and it is so called in Maccabees ; but its Hebrew name 
was Arvad or Aruad, to which its modern name Ruad> bears 
a striking resemblance. The Hebrew name was probably de- 
rived from Arvad, one of the sons of Canaan. See Part L p. 
28. The different names of Arpad, Arphad, and Arvad, oc- 
curring in Kings, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, appear to be the same. 
Here was formerly a powerful city, and a republic, which the 
liberty enjoyed by the inhabitants had rendered very populous. 
It subsisted by naval commerce, manufactures, and arts. 

No. 1. A medal of Ara- 
dus, on which the fly ap- 
pears to have been intend- 
ed to commemorate Jupi- 
ter Muscarius ; the same, 
in all probability, as Baal- 
zebub, Baal the fly, the 
god of Ekron, whose wor- 
ship was not confined to 
that city. The stag with 
the palm-tree refer to the 
possessions of this people on the continent, probably about Mount Leba- 
non, which abounded with deer, agreeably to the comparison by Jacob, 
of his son Naphtali to a deer, because that tribe had an allotment on this 
mountain. 





ARM DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 89 

No 2. The two sphinxes, with the sacred measure on their heads, 
seem to ally Aradus with Egypt. 

No. 3. shows that the people of Aradus venerated the sun, and were 
proud of the productions of their territory, corn and wine. 

At present the island is deserted, and not a single wall is 
remaining of all that multitude of nouses, which, according to 
Strabo, were built with more stories than even those of Rome. 

Aram, a name given in the writings of Moses to the coun- 
try commonly called Syria, peopled by Aram, the son of Shem. 
See Syria, and Mesopotamia. 

Ararat, a mountain, or mountains, in the north-east of 
Armenia, on which the ark is supposed to have rested. The 
name is compounded of Ar-Arat, which is equivalent to Har- 
Irad in Hebrew,, and implies the Mountain of Descent. See 
Part L p. 12. 

Areopagus, or Mars' Hill. See Athens. 

Argob, a city and region lying east of Jordan in the coun- 
try of Bashan, afterwards given to Manasseh. See Part L 
p. 54. 

Arimathea, also called Ramah, and Ramathaim Zophim, 
(1 Sam. i.) a town about 30 miles north-west of Jerusalem, 
on the road to Jaffa. This was the native place of Joseph of 
Arimathea, who begged the body of Jesus from Pilate. (Matt, 
xxvii. 57.) It is now called Ramla, and . contains about 5000 
inhabitants, who are chiefly occupied in agricultural pursuits, 
for which the surrounding country is highly favourable, 
abounding in vineyards, olives, and dates. Ramah and Lydda 
were the two first cities taken by the crusaders. 

Armenia, a considerable country of Asia, consisting of mod- 
ern Turcomania, and part of Persia ; having Colchis and Ibe- 
ria, the modern Georgia, on the north ; Media on the east ; 
Assyria and Mesopotamia on the south, and Asia Minor on 
the west. Armenia is sometimes confounded with Aramaea, 
the land of Aram or Syria; but they are totally different 
Armenia, which is separated from Aram by the range called 
Mount Taurus, was so named from Ar-Men, or Ar-minni, i. e. 
the mountainous country of Meni or Minni, the people of 
which are mentioned by Jeremiah, (chap. li. 27.) when sum- 
moning the nations against Babylon. Ararat and Minni, in 
this passage, are so translated in our Bibles as to make two 
different kingdoms ; but they appear to be the same, and im- 
ply the people of Ararat or Armenia. 



90 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



ARP 



This country includes the sources of the rivers Tigris and 
Euphrates, the Araxes and Phasis ; and here the country of 
Eden, in which the garden was situated, is by many sup- 
posed to have been situated. See Eden, Part I. p. 10. . 

Armenia was formerly an independent kingdom, but is now 
subject, partly to Persia, and partly to the Turks. The part 
subject to the Persians is Eastern, Upper, or Grand Armenia ; 
and the other, Lower, Little, or Western Armenia. The peo- 
ple are sober, industrious, and enterprising, and have in all 
ages maintained a great similarity of character,, partly com- 
mercial, and partly pastoral ; some living at home with their 
flocks, and others travelling as merchants and dealers into 
distant countries. Merchants of Armenia are found in almost 
every considerable port of Asia and Europe. 

The religion of the Armenians is Christian, of the sect of 
Eutyches, owning but one nature in Jesus Christ ; and it is a 
remarkable proof of the firmness of this people, that they have 
been able to preserve their ancient faith, though subject to 
their Mahometan masters, and surrounded by nations who 
have not only submitted to the arms of the Turks, but also to 
their religion. 

Arnon, a river which formed the boundary between the 
countries of Moab and Ammon ; rising in the mountains of 
Gilead, east of Jordan, flowing at first towards the south, then 
turning to the west, and emptying into the eastern side of the 
Dead Sea. After the Ammonites had been dispossessed of 
the country on the east of Jordan by the Amorites, this river 
was the division between the latter people and the Moabites ; 
and later still, after the Israelites had conquered the country 
of the Amorites, the Arnon was the boundary between the 
tribe of Reuben and the Land of Moab. It is also called the 
river of Gad, (2 Sam. xxiv. 5. 2 Kings x. 33.) being the east- 
ern boundary of that tribe. 

Aroer, a city on the river Arnon, probably partly on an 
island, as it is called " the city in the midst of the river." 
(Josh. xiii. 9.) It formerly belonged to the Amorites, but was 
afterwards given to the tribe of Gad. Some have thought 
there was another city of this name further south, in the tribe 
of Reuben; and from a want of knowledge respecting the 
true course of the Arnon, considerable uncertainty attends the 
subject. 

Arpad, Arphad, and Arvab ; See Aradus. 



ASH DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 91 

Aruboth, a city or country belonging to the tribe of Judah; 
the situation of which is not known. 1 Kings iv. 10. 

Arvadites, the descendants of Arvad, one of the sons of 
Canaan. See Part I. p. 28. 

Ashan, a city of the tribe of Judah, afterwards given to 
Simeon. Josh. xv. 42. xix. 7. 

Ashdod, a city of the Philistines, giving name to one of 
the five governments of that people. It was first allotted to 
the tribe of Judah, and afterwards to Dan ; but was possessed 
for a long time after by the Philistines, and rendered famous 
for the temple of their god, Dagon. (1 Sam. v. 1.) It is 
situated upon the Mediterranean, nine or ten miles north of 
Gaza. Ashdod was called by the Greeks Azotus, by the 
Syrians Ezdoud, and by the Arabs Mezdel. It is represented 
as having been a place of great strength ; and is remarkable 
for sustaining the longest siege mentioned in history, having 
been taken by Psammetichus, king of Egypt, after a siege of 
29 years. It is at present an inconsiderable village, but con- 
tains many fragments of buildings and ruins, which remain of 
its former greatness. Here Philip the Evangelist was found, 
after he had baptized the Ethiopian eunuch. Acts viii. 40. 

Ashdoth-Pisgah, a city of the Amorites, allotted to the 
tribe of Reuben. It was so called from lying near Mount 
Pisgah. 

Asher, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part I. p. 66. 

Ashnah, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 33. 

Ashkenaz, a son of Gomer, and grandson of Japheth. See 
Part I. p. 16. 

Ashtaroth, or Ashtaroih Carnaim, one of the chief cities 
in the kingdom of Bashan, given to the half tribe of Manasseh, 
east of Jordan. Karnaim, in Hebrew, implies two-horned, 
and the city is supposed to have derived both names from the 
worship of the goddess Ashtaroth, who was represented like 
the Egyptian Isis, with two horns, or a horned moon. This 
city is sometimes called simply Carnaim, or Carnion. 1 Mace. 
v. 26. 43, 44. 

Ashtaroth was the chief goddess of the Sidonians, and was 
much worshipped in Syria and Phenecia under that name, as 
well as those of " the host of heaven," and " the queen of 
heaven." She is supposed by some to be the Diana of the 
Greeks ; but the worship paid to her was more that of Venus. 
Solomon, to please his strange wives, introduced the worship 



92 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. ASK 

of Ashtaroth amongst the Israelites; but it was established by 
Jezebel. (1 Kings xviii.) This goddess was afterwards 
adopted by the eastern Greeks, under the name Astarte. 

According to Jerom, Ashtaroth was called Carnea in his 
time, and was then a considerable city, six miles from Edrei. 

Asia is used in a threefold sense : 1. As one of the four 
great divisions of the earth. 2. Asia Minor or Lesser Asia, 
now called Anatolia. 3. The Asia of the New Testament, 
comprehending Phrygia, Mysia, Caria, and Lydia. This was 
the Roman proconsular Asia, in which were the seven churches 
of Asia, mentioned in the Revelations of St. John. 

As the ancient Hebrews were strangers to the division of 
the earth into three or four parts, we never find the name 
Asia in any book originally written in Hebrew. They seemed 
to think that the continent consisted only of Asia Minor and 
x\frica : the rest of the world was comprised under the name 
" isles of the Gentiles." Gen. x. 5. 

Asia Minor is the country lying west of Mount Taurus, 
principally between the Euxine or Black Sea and the Medi- 
terranean ; containing the provinces of Bithynia, Pontus, Ga- 
latia, Cappadocia, Cilicia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, Phry- 
gia, Mysia, Troas, &c. all of which are mentioned in Scrip- 
ture, and which we shall describe under their several heads. 

Askelon, called Ascalon by the Greeks and Latins, was 
one of the five great cities or lordships of the Philistines, sit- 
uated in the west of Canaan, 40 miles westward from Jeru- 
salem, between Gaza on the south, and Ashdod on the north. 
It appears to have been the chief of those cities ; and even in 
the time of the crusades, such was its strength, that it was 
the last of the maritime towns which fell into the hands of the 
Christians. It is memorable in the history of the crusades, 
from the defeat of the Caliph of Egypt by Godfrey of Bou- 
illon, in 1099 ; and that of Saladin, the Saracen Emperor, by 
Richard of England, in 1192, when 40,000 of the Saracens 
and Turks were killed, and the place afterwards captured. 
Ascalon was the birth-place of Herod the Great. It is now 
in ruins, and though close to the shore, had but few advan- 
tages as a port, the coast being sandy and difficult of access. 
According to Origen, there are wells here said to have been 
dug by Abraham and Isaac. 



ASS 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



93 




No. 1. A medal of Ascalon, with the figure of Jupiter and the in- 
scription Alexandrou, showing that Alexander the Great (who took 
this city 332 years before Christ) was worshipped here as a deity ; or in 
compliment to him as son of Jupiter, which he reported himself to be. 
In some other cities also, were temples dedicated to the worship of 
Alexander. 

No. 2. shows Semiramis, or the Assyrian Venus, standing on a ship: 
inscription Askalo. 

Asphaltites Lake. See Dead Sea. 

Asphar, a lake mentioned in 1 Mace. ix. 33. probably the 
same as Asphaltites. 

Assos, a sea-port of Troas, in the west of Asia Minor, to 
which St. Paul went on foot from the city of Troas, and from 
which he embarked with his companions to go to Mytilene, on 
the opposite island of Lesbos. (Acts xx. 13, 14.) Jerom says 
that Assos was near the city of Troy. 

Assyria, one of the first and greatest empires of Asia, fre- 
quently mentioned in Scripture, being intimately connected 
with the history of the Jews. This empire, in its greatest 
extent, included Persia, Chaldea, Media, Mesopotamia, Syria, 
Judea, and part of Arabia. But the country of Assyria pro- 
per lies east of the Tigris, between Armenia on the north, 
and Shinar, Chaldea, or Babylonia on the south ; having Me- 
dia on the east, and Mesopotamia on the west It is generally 
supposed to have been founded by Asshur, son of Shem, who 
went out of Shinar, driven, as it appears, by Nimrod, and 
founded Nineveh, not long after Nimrod had fixed his residence 
at Babel or Babylon, and established the Chaldean monarchy. 
But the learned Bochart, and other eminent scholars, adopt 
the marginal translation, " Out of that land he (Nimrod) went 
forth into Asshur or Assyria, and built Nineveh." (Gen. x, 



94 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



ASS 



11.) The decision of this question is difficult, but the weight 
of authority is in favour of the marginal reading, which re- 
presents Nimrod as the founder of Nineveh. This is sup- 
ported by the Targums of Onkelos and Jerusalem, by Theo- 
philus, bishop of Antioch, and Jerom, among the ancients ; and 
by Bochart, Faber, Hyde, Wells, Marsham, Le Chais, and 
the writers of the Universal History, among the moderns. 

The government of this empire continued in the family of 
Nimrod for many ages, probably till its overthrow by Arbaces, 
which introduced a Median dynasty. Arbaces, who in Scrip- 
ture is called Tiglath Pileser, was governor of Media ; and 
Belesis, or Nabonassar, called in Scripture Baladan, was go- 
vernor of Babylon : these, conspiring together with the Per- 
sians and other allies, took Nineveh, aud overthrew the go- 
vernment of Sardanapalus, who lost his life in the contest. 
Thus the second race of Assyrian kings began with Arba- 
ces ; while Nabonassar founded a new empire in Babylon, of 
which he was the first king. This was about the year of the 
world 3257, or 747 before Christ. We have no account of 
the Assyrian empire, in the Scriptures, until the mission of 
Jonah to Nineveh, A. M. 3180, and B. C. 824. Between 40 
and 50 years after this, an Assyrian king, named Pul, who is 
supposed to have been the father of Sardanapalus, invaded 
the kingdom of Israel. 

The first captivity of the Israelites was by Tiglath Pileser, 
or Arbaces, mentioned above, who carried away the people 
east of Jordan, i. e. the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half 
tribe of Manasseh, into Media. (1 Chron. v. 26.) It was dur- 
ing the period of this second Assyrian empire, between the 
reigns of Tiglath Pileser and Nabuchodonosor, from 747 to 
655 before Christ, including the reigns of Salman eser and 
Sennacherib, that most of the events mentioned in Scripture 
history, as connected with the Assyrians, took place. The 
second captivity of the Israelites, and the extinction of the 
kingdom of Israel, was under Salmaneser, in the year 721 
before Christ. Sennacherib succeeded his father Salmaneser, 
and invaded the kingdom of Judah, but on the payment of a 
large ransom by king Hezekiah, the Assyrian passed on into 
Egypt with his army, where he destroyed the city of No. 
(Nahum iii. 10.) On his return he again attacked Judah, 
and sent a blasphemous message to king Hezekiah, (2 Kings 
xviii.) who, pleading earnestly for a particular display of di- 
vine power, was relieved, and an angel of the Lord went out, 
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty- 



ATA 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE 



95 



five thousand, so that in the morning they were all dead 
corpses. (2 Kings xix. 35.) After this, Sennacherib returned 
in disgrace to his kingdom, where he was afterwards killed by 
his two sons, Adramelech and Sharezer, as he was worship- 
ping in the temple of his god Nisroch. The Medes, in the 
mean time, taking advantage of the loss of his army in Judea, 
shook off the Assyrian yoke, and formed an independent em- 
pire. Sennacherib was succeeded by his son Esarhaddon, 
called Asnappar in the book of Ezra, who carried away those 
who remained of the people of Israel : he also sent part of 
his army into Judah, who took its king, Manasseh, prisoner, 
and sent him in chains to Babylon, which had been recently 
seized by Esarhaddon, and annexed to the Assyrian empire. 
Babylon remained an appendage of Assyria, for the space of 
54 years, until they were again separated by Nabopolassar, a 
general in the army, and father of Nebuchadnezzar, who 
seized Babylon of which he was declared king, and which 
again became independent of Assyria, 626 before Christ. 
Fourteen years after this, Cyaxares, king of Media, and Na- 
bopolassar, king of Babylon, united against Assyria, besieged 
and took Nineveh, killed Chyniladanus the king, and destroyed 
the city, to which event the prophecies of Nahum are sup- 
posed to refer. Thus an end was put to the empire of Assyria, 
612 before Christ, and Babylon became the ruling power in 
the east. 

Atach, a city in the tribe of Judah. 1 Sam. xxx. 30. 




View of Athens. 



96 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. , ATI! 

Athens, a celebrated city and commonwealth of Greece. 
This city, it is supposed, was founded 1580 years before Christ, 
and 830 before the building of Rome ; to which adding the 
time which has since elapsed, 1834, will make the duration of 
Athens, to the present time, 3414 years. The situation and 
history of Athens are too well known to make it necessary 
for us to enter further into particulars than is requisite to elu- 
cidate the circumstances of St Paul's visit, A. D. 32. Athens 
was famed for its power, laws, arts, literature, and learned 
men. These last were divided into sects, differing in opinion 
on religion and happiness, and spent their time in giving and 
hearing lessons in philosophy, rhetoric, and metaphysics ; or 
in vain and fruitless speculations on the nature of the gods, 
the perfection of human nature, and the attainment of the 
chief good. The rest of the inhabitants spent theirs " in 
nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing." 
(Acts xvii. 21.) They were all addicted to idleness, and the 
numerous places of public resort afforded every class the 
means of gratifying their thirst for inquiry, superstition, or 
dissipation. Had the apostle brought some new scheme of 
philosophy or ethics, or some new god to add to the many 
which the Athenians pretended to venerate, he would have 
been well received. Under some ideas of this sort, the peo- 
ple carried St. Paul to the Areopagus, that he might explain 
to them " the new doctrine of which he spoke." The Areo- 
pagus, or Hill of Mars, was an insulated precipitous rock, in 
the centre of Athens, where a celebrated tribunal or court 
was held, the judges of which were called Areopagites, of 
whom Dionysius was one. (Acts xvii. 34.) This court took 
cognizance chiefly of matters of religion, such as blasphemies 
against the gods, the consecration of new ones, ceremonies of 
worship, &c. This was the place to which Paul was brought 
as " a setter forth of strange gods," and where, boldly stand- 
ing up, he reproved the Athenians for their absurd idolatries, 
and preached Christ and the resurrection ; which to some was 
foolishness, to others a matter of further curiosity, while a 
few, among whom was Dionysius, were converted. 

With regard to the altar with the inscription "to the 
unknown god," we have the testimony of Lucian that such 
really did exist at Athens ; and Diogenes Laertius tells us the 
following occasion of their being erected. The city being 
afflicted with a pestilence, Epimenides took several sheep to 



ATT 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



97 



the Areopagus, whence they were left to wander as they 
pleased. Persons were appointed to watch them, and where 
each sheep lay down, it was sacrificed on the spot to the pro- 
pitious god ; but which god it was, being uncertain, an altar 
was erected to the unknown god, on every spot where a 
sheep had been sacrificed. By this ceremony, it is said, the 
city was relieved of the pestilence. 




!No. 1. A medal of Athens, showing the Acropolis standing on a high 
rock, on which it is built. In the rock appears the sacred grotto of 
Apollo and Creusa, a flight of steps up to the citadel, with the entrance 
to the Propylea, the temple of Minerva, and the famous figure of that 
goddess standing as protecting and presiding over all. The spear of 
this figure was seen from far off at sea. St. Paul must have observed 
all these idolatrous particulars, as well as the altar dedicated to the 
unknown god. 

No. 2. Represents a young woman scattering flowers, probably in the 
great Panal/wnaic festival, which was held at stated times, in com-* 
memoration of Minerva. Well might Paul's "spirit be stirred in him 
when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry."' Acts xvii. 16. 

Attalia, a city on the coast of Pamphylia, in Asia Minor y 
visited by Paul and Barnabas. (Acts xiv. 25.) It was named 
from Attalus, its founder ; and is now called Sattalia. Being 
well situated for trade, the Turks keep the fortifications in 
repair. 



A medal of Attalia, on one 
side of which is Neptune, with 
his trident, denoting this to be 
a sea-port town: the figure 
on the other side is uncertain, 
— possibly Pluto. 




98 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



BAA 



Ava, (2 Kings xvii. 24.) supposed to be the same as Ivah, 

city of Assyria, from whence Salmaneser brought people 
called Avites (2 Kings xvii.) to inhabit Samaria, after he had 
carried away the Israelites into captivity. 

Aven, a city of Egypt, (Ezek. xxx. 17.) supposed to be the 
same as On, or Heliopolis. 

Avim, a people of Canaan. See Part I. p. 29. Also a 
city in the tribe of Benjamin, between Bethel and Parah. 
Josh, xviii. 23. 

Azekah, a city in the tribe of Judah, lying four leagues 
south-west of Jerusalem. Josh. xv. 35. 1 Sam. xvii. 1. 

Azem, a city in the tribe of Simeon. Josh. xix. 3. 

Azmaveth, a city thought to be in the tribe of Judah, not 
far from Jerusalem. Neh. xii. 29. and vii. 28. 

Aznoth-Tabor, a city which Eusebius places in the plain 
not far from Diocesarea. Josh. xix. 34. 

Azotus. See Ashdod. 

Azzah. See Gaza, 



B. 

Baalah, otherwise called Kirjath-jearim, (Josh. xv. 9. 
1 Chron. xiii. 6.) a city of Judah, situated not far west of 
Jerusalem. At this place the ark was stationed for some 
time. There was also a mountain of this name, (Josh. xv. 
11.) probably the same as Mount Jearim. 

Baalath, a city in the tribe of Judah. (Josh. xv. 24.) Also 
in the tribe of Dan. Josh. xix. 44. 

Baalath-beer, a city of Simeon. Josh. xix. 8. 

Baal-Gad, a city in the valley of Lebanon, at the foot of 
Mount Hermon, in the north-east part of the Land of Canaan. 
(Josh. xi. 17. xii. 7.) The name Baal-Gad means the lord of 
fortune, or good luck, or of a troop. This deity is frequently 
represented on medals, sometimes having the name annexed, 
and is usually feminine. There was, however, a male For- 
tune among the ancient deities, agreeing with the significa- 
tion of Baal-Gad. 



BAA 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



99 




No. 1. A vessel in which Isis is spreading her veil for the sail; 
Jupiter Serapis is directing the course of the vessel, and Fortune is 
guiding it ; Jupiter Serapis is therefore here the Baal-Gad, or Lord of 
Fortune. 



No. 


2. 


tB 




Ju uy^w 




(Ok IPj 




Bfflr M$ 




rvTr ^ i // IP®^"' 




Vj\T H / I^v/vS 







No. 2. A female figure of Fortune, 
displaying many symbols ; the rudder, 
cornucopia, ears of corn, &c. The 
quiver on her back allies her to Diana, 
while the ornaments of her head re- 
semble those of Isis. 



100 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



BAA 



Baal-hazor, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, where Absalom 
kept his flocks. (2 Sam. xiii. 23.) It lay between Bethel and 
Jericho, eight miles from Jerusalem. 

Baal-hermon, a mountain in the north of Canaan, nn~ *the 
boundary of the country, the exact situation of which t not 
known. Some suppose it to be part of Mount Hermon, < / that 
it was a temple of the idol Baal, on Hermon. Judg. iii. 3. 1 
Chron. v. 23. 

Baal-meon, a city in the tribe of Reuben. (Numb. xxxiL 
38.) It was taken from Reuben by the Moabites, who were 
masters of it in the days of Ezekiel, (xxv. 9.) and seems to 
have been a place of some importance in the time of the Mac- 
cabees. 

Baal-peor, an idol of the Moabites. See Part I. p. 54. 

Baal-perazim, the place where David put the Philistines 
to flight. (2 Sam. v. 20.) It lay near the valley of Rephaim, 
or Giants, about 4 miles south-west from Jerusalem ; and is 
probably the Mount Perazim of Isaiah, xxviii. 21. 

Baal-shalisha, (2 Kings iv. 42.) a place situated, according 
to Jerom and Eusebius, in the tribe of Simeon or Dan, 15 miles 
north of Diospolis. 

The Hebrew word Baal-shalisha, 
means the third idol, or the deity 
of three, a triple divinity. The 
idea of triplicate deities was com- 
mon among; the ancients, as is pro- 
ved by ancient medals of different 
countries. The annexed figure re- 
presents this emblem as it exists 
in the very ancient Hindoo temple 
at Elephanta, near Bombay. 

This image is understood to im- 
ply the divinity in his creative, 
preservative, and destructive, or 
rather regenerative capacities. 
This is one of the most extraordi- 
nary works of art, of colossal size, 
and immensely laborious workmanship. 

Baal-tamar, the place of an engagement between the Is- 
raelites and the tribe of Benjamin ; situated, according to Eu- 
sebius, near Gibeah. (Judges xx. 33.) This Hebrew name 
means the idol of the palm-trees, probably so named from the 
Canaanites here worshipping Baal in a grove of palm-trees. 

Baal-zephon, a place near the western extremity of the 
Red Sea. See Part. L p. 43. 




BAB DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 101 

Babel, a famous tower, built in the land of Shinar. See Part 
I p. 14. 

Babylon, the capital city of Chaldea, at first called Babel, 
was built by Nimrod, (Gen. x. 10.) in the place where the 
tower of Babel was begun, and was probably the first city 
built after the flood. Its early history is very obscure, and the 
accounts of heathen writers respecting it, quite contradictory. 

This city was much enlarged and adorned by Semiramis, 
wife of Ninus, who, it is believed, was the son and successor 
of Nimrod ; but it was most improved in extent and splendour 
by Nebuchadnezzar, who gloried himself much upon what he 
had done for it. (Dan. iv. 30.) It was then called Babylon, 
and for extent and magnificence was the wonder of the 
world. 

According to ancient writers, it was at least forty -five miles 
in circumference, and was built on both sides of the river 
Euphrates, in the shape of a square. It had 25 principal 
streets running each way through its whole length, intersect- 
ing each other, and thus dividing the city into 625 squares. 
The walls of the city were prodigious, being, according to the 
most moderate accounts, 75 feet high, and 32 feet broad ; but 
Herodotus, a Greek historian, who visited Babylon, says they 
were 350 feet in height, and 87 feet in breadth or thickness ; 
extending in compass round the city a length of 60 miles. 
These walls were built of brick, cemented with bitumen, and 
had around them a deep ditch, filled with water, the sides of 
which were lined with brick walls ; as were also the sides of 
the river where.it flowed through the city. In every side of 
this great square, at the entrance into the 25 streets, were 25 
gates, making, in all, a hundred, which were made of solid 
brass ; and between every two of these gates were three tow- 
ers. A bridge, five furlongs in length, and thirty feet wide, 
connected the two parts of the city, which lay one on each 
side of the river ; and at each end of this bridge was a palace. 
It is even said that there was a subterraneous passage under 
the bed of the river, from one of these palaces to the other. 

In the midst of the city stood a magnificent temple, dedi- 
cated to Belus, or Bel ; and in the middle of this temple was 
a stupendous tower, which is supposed to have been the same 
tower, or part of it, which was left unfinished at the confusion 
of tongues. It was probably afterwards resumed and com- 
pleted, and a prodigious city built around it. This tower was 
in the form of a pyramid, with a square base, each side being 



102 



6CRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



BAB 



500 feet, and the height was about the same. On the top was 
a statue of Belus, 40 feet high. This tower was built of 
bricks, cemented with bitumen. The temple around this tow- 
er was erected by Nebuchadnezzar, and was a mile in circum* 
ference ; it was surrounded by a wall, in which were several 
gates, all of brass. It is supposed that the brazen sea, the 
brazen pillars, and the vessels of brass, which were carried 
from the temple of Jerusalem, were used in making these 
gates ; for we read in Scripture that Nebuchadnezzar put all 
the sacred vessels which he carried from Jerusalem, into the 
house of his god at Babylon, that is, into this house or temple 
of Bel. The image or statue of Bel, on the top of the tower, 
was probably Nebuchadnezzar's golden image mentioned in 
Daniel. There were also in this temple many other statues 
and images of gold, all of which made it so rich, that on the 
return of Xerxes from his expedition into Greece, he plunder- 
ed it, and laid it in ruins. Alexander the Great, afterwards 
wishing to restore it, employed ten thousand men during two 
months in clearing away and removing the rubbish, but the 
undertaking was found to be too great, and he was forced to 
abandon it. 

This great city was taken and destroyed by Cyrus, king of 
Persia, in a manner remarkably corresponding with the pro- 
phecies. (Isa. xiii. 17. xxi. 2. xlv. 1-4. Jer. xxv. 11, 12. 1. 24. 
38. li. 11. 36. 39. 57.) Thus the glory of Babylon has passed 
away, according to the word of the Lord, so that it has even 
been difficult in modern times to discover the place where it 




6tood. Travellers have, however, discovered, about three 
miles north of Hilleh, a town near the Euphrates, 47 miles 
south of Bagdad, immense masses of ruins, mostly composed 



BEE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 103 

of bricks cemented with bitumen, and extending over a con- 
siderable space. Among these ruins appear the remains of a 
vast monument, which is supposed to have been the great 
tower. 

The bricks of these ruins are dug up and carried away by 
the natives, for the purpose of erecting their buildings ; and 
it is said that the town of Hilleh, containing ten or twelve 
thousand inhabitants, has been mostly built of them. Many 
of these bricks contain unknown inscriptions, and are in size 
generally about a foot square and three inches thick. These 
ruins are now so much infested by venomous reptiles and 
wild beasts, as to be dangerous of access. 

There was also another city called Babylon, situated in 
Egypt, on the Nile, not far from Cairo. 

Babylonia, the country round the famous city cf Babylon, 
comprising the greater part of Chaldea, situated in the north- 
east of Arabia, on both sides of the river Euphrates. The do- 
minion of Babylonia, as an independent empire, may be said 
to begin with Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, 
who rendered it independent of Assyria in the year 626 before 
Christ. Under his son, Nebuchadnezzar, it became very 
powerful; he took Jerusalem, carried the Jews into captivity, 
and subdued Egypt. But this power was not of long dura- 
tion ; for in the year 538 before Christ, Cyrus, king of Persia, 
took Babylon, and put an end to the empire. 

Bahurim, a village near Jerusalem, in the tribe of Benja- 
min, on the road to Jordan. Here Shimei cursed David, and 
threw stones at him. 2 Sam. xvi. 5. xvii. 18. 

Bamoth, one of the encampments of the Israelites. 
(Numb. xxi. 19, 20.) Eusebius says it was a city oi Moab, 
upon the river Arnon. 

Bamoth-baal, a city in the tribe of Reuben, east of Jordan. 
Josh. xiii. 17. 

Bascama. or Basca, a town in the tribe of Judah, where 
Jonathan Maccabeus was killed. 1 Mace, xiii- 93. 

Bashan, the kingdom of Og. See Part I. p, 53. - 

Bealoth, a city in the tribe of Judah. Josh- xv. 24. 

Beer, the name of a city (Judg. ix. 21.) four leagues from 
Jerusalem, in the way to Shechem. The wc*<? Leer, in He- 
brew, signifies a well. 

Beer-elim, the well of the princes. Isa. v. 8. Numb, 
xxi. 18. 

Beer-lahai-roi. See Part I. p. 34. 



104 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



BER 



Beeroth, a city of the Gibeonites, afterwards yielded to 
the tribe of Benjamin. (Josh. ix. 17. 2 Sam. iv. 2.) Eusebius 
places it seven miles from Jerusalem, in the way to Nicopo- 
lis. Near it is a fountain of excellent water, whence probably 
it received its name, the wells. 

Beeroth was also a station of the Israelites, (Deut. x. 6.) 
north of Ezion-gaber. 

Beer-sheba, the well of the oath. See Part I. p. 34. 

Bela, or Zoar, a city near Sodom. See Part I. p. 31. 

Bene-berak, a city in the tribe of Dan. Josh. xix. 45. 

Bene-jaakan, a station of the Israelites in the wilderness, 
(Numb, xxxiii. 31.) probably the same as Beeroth. (Deut. 
x. 6.) Beeroth heni Jaakan, the wells of the sons of Jaakan. 

Benjamin, one of the tribes of Israel. See Part I. p. 64. 

Beon, a city in the tribe of Reuben, (Numb, xxxii. 3.) 
probably the same called Bean in 1 Mace. v. 4. 

Berea, a city in the south of Macedonia, westward from 
Thessalonica, where Paul preached with success, and whose 
inhabitants are commended for receiving" the word with all 
readiness of mind, and diligently searching the Scriptures. 
Acts xvii. 10, 11. 




A medal of Berea, remarkable for the inscription, koin. make. b. 
NEO. eeraion, referring to the second Macedonia ; and for the date eoc, 
thought to be 275 from the battle of Pharsalia, or the Julian era of 
Rome 706. This date falls in the sixth year of Alexander Severus; 
and the head of Alexander the Great on this medal, was probably in 
compliment to this emperor, who was born in a temple of Alexander, 
at Arce, in Phenicia, or Caesarea Libamis, and from that circumstance 
adopted Alexander as his tutelary deity. 

This is the only Macedonian medal which has such a date, and the 
only one of this period inscribed with the name of the city where it 
was struck ; these circumstances, and those mentioned above, appear 
to mark a distinction attached to this city, whose inhabitants are styled 
in Scripture noble Bereans. 



BET 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



105 



Bered, a place in Palestine, not far from Gaza, and near 
the well where Hagar rested when flying from her mistress. 
Gen. xvi. 14. 

Berytus, probably the place called in Scripture Berolhai, 
(2 Sam. viii. 8. Ezek. xlvii. 16.) an ancient city in Phenicia, 
on the Mediterranean, fifty miles north of Sidon. It is 
thought that Baal-berith, (Judg. viii. 33.) was the deity wor- 
shipped at Berytus, and thence introduced into the Land of 
Israel. It appears by ancient medals of this place, that Cas- 
tor and Pollux, Hercules, Neptune, Astarte, and various other 
deities, were worshipped here. 




No. 1. A medal of Berytus, representing Neptune in his marine car, 
drawn by four sea-horses. He holds in his right hand a dolphin, in hia 
left a trident. Neptune was the tutelary deity of Berytus. 

No. 2. Astarte in her temple, crowned by a figure of Victory stand- 
ing on a pillar ; on each side of her, a figure holding a wreath ; on the 
top of the temple, trophies. Suidas tells us that the Astarte of the 
Syrians is called Venus by the Greeks. 

Besor, a brook or river which fulls into the Mediterranean, 
south of Gaza. This is thought to be the river of the wilder- 
ness, (Amos vi. 14.) and is perhaps the stream called the river 
of Egypt, (Josh. xv. 4.) and several other places of Scripture. 
See Part L p. 32. 

Bet ah, (2 Sam. viii. 8.) a city of Syria, probably the same 
as Beten, belonging to the tribe of Asher. Josh. xix. 25. 

Beth-abara, a place on the eastern bank of the Jordan, 
where John baptized, (John i. 28.) and as the name signifies 
the house of passage, some have thought it was the place 
where the Israelites under Joshua crossed the Jordan ; but 



106 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. BET 

others think it was the place where Jacob crossed that river. 
Eusebius says that many in his time were zealous to be bap- 
tized at this place, as it was supposed to be the spot where 
John baptized the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Bethanath, a city of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 38. 

Bethany, a village situated at the mount of Olives, about 
two miles east of Jerusalem. This was the abode of Martha 
and Mary, with their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus raised 
from the dead ; (John xi. 18.) and here Mary anointed the feet 
of our Lord. Bethany is now a small village, where is yet 
shown to travellers an old ruin, said to be the house where 
Lazarus and his sisters dwelt ; also near this is his sepulchre, 
which is held in great veneration by the Turks, and used by 
them as a place for prayer. Not far from this they show the 
house of Mary Magdalene, and the fountain of the apostles, 
so called because they were accustomed to refresh there ; this 
fountain is near the road side, and very inviting to the thirsty 
traveller. 

Beth-arabah, a city in the border of Judah, (Josh. xv. 6.) 
belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, (xviii. 22.) 

Bethar am, or Betharan, (Numb, xxxii. 36. Josh. xiii. 27.) 
a fenced city east of Jordan, in the tribe of Gad. 

Bethaven, the same as Bethel. This is the place where 
Jeroboam set up his golden calves, whence it is called by the 
prophet Hosea, (iv. 15.) in derision, Beih-aven, the house of 
vanity, instead of Bethel, the house of God. 

Beth-bar a, (Judges vii. 24.) supposed to be the same as 
Bethabara. 

Beth-basi, a city in the tribe of Judah, fortified by Simon 
and Jonathan Maccabeus, (1 Mace. ix. 62.) and where Bac- 
chides besieged them without success. 

BETH-BiREr, a city of Simeon. 1 Chron. iv. 31. 

Beth-car, a city of Dan, to which the Israelites pursued 
the Philistines, and near which Samuel set up a stone which 
he called Ebenezer. 

Beth-dagon, the house or temple of Dagon, a city of Ca- 
naan in the tribe of Judah ; probably so called because here 
was a temple of the idol of Dagon, before the country was 
conquered by the Israelites. (Josh. xv. 41.) There was also 
a city of this name belonging to the tribe of Asher. Josh, 
xix. 27. 

Bethel, a city near the boundary between the tribes of 



BET DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 107 

Benjamin and Ephraim, situated about eight miles north of 
Jerusalem. See Part I. p. 28. 

Beth-emek, a city near the southern boundary of the tribe 
of Asher. Josh. xix. 27. 

Bether; mountains of this name are mentioned in the 
Song of Solomon, (ii. 17. and viii. 14.) In the latter place, it 
is translated " mountains of spices." It is uncertain what 
mountains are meant by this name ; some take it to mean 
Bethoron, called Bether by Eusebius. This place is frequent- 
ly mentioned in old Hebrew writings, and is memorable for a 
terrible slaughter of the Jews in the time of the emperor 
Adrian, during the rebellion of Bardochebas, when it is said 
that the number of dead bodies was so great, that the blood 
ran from them four miles to the sea. 

Bethesda, the house of mercy, of the house of effusion, a 
pool near the sheep-market at Jerusalem, having five porches, 
piazzas, or covered walks around it. (John v. 2.) Here an im- 
potent man, who had been so for thirty-eight years, was cured 
by our Lord. The healing virtues of this pool are said by 
Tertullian to have ceased after the Jews rejected Christ. 
According to Mr. Maundrel, a late traveller who visited this 
place, the pool is now dry ; but the basin or pit which contained 
the water remains, and is 120 yards long, forty broad, and 
eight deep. At one end are some ancient arches, which the 
people say were the porches where the multitude of lame, 
halt, and blind, were accustomed to sit while they waited for 
the moving of the waters. 

Beth-gamul, a city of the Moabites in the tribe of Reuben. 
Jer. xlviii. 23. 

Beth-haccerem, a city between Jerusalem and Tekoah, 
noted for its vineyards. Jer. vi. 1. Neh. iii. 14. 

Beth-hoglah, a place in the tribe of Judah, (Josh. xv. 6.) 
which, according to Eusebius, was eight miles from Gaza. 
St. Jerom mentions a place of this name, eight miles from 
Jordan, in the tribe of Benjamin. Josh, xviii. 21. 

Beth-horox, places in the tribe of Ephraim. See Part L 
p. 56. 

Beth-jesimoth, a city in the plains of Moab, east of Jor- 
dan, where the Israelites encamped. See Part I. p. 49. 

Beth-lebaoth, a city belonging to the tribe of Simeon, 
(Josh. xix. 6.) called Lebaoth, among the cities first given to 
Judah, (chap. xv. 32.) 

Bethlehem, a city situated six miles south of Jerusalem, 



108 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



BET 



otherwise called Ephrath or Ephratah, sometimes Bethlehem- 
Ephratah, and sometimes Bethlehem-Judah, to distinguish it 
from another place called Bethlehem, in the tribe of Zebulon. 
This city was not considerable for its extent or riches ; but 
was remarkable for being the birth-place of our blessed 
Saviour, as well as that of king David, from whom the Sa- 
viour descended, according to the flesh. Ibn Haukal, a Ma- 
hometan writer, speaking of Bethlehem, says, " Here Jesus, on 
whom be peace ! was born of his mother." 




View of Bethlehem. 



Bethlehem is situated upon the declivity of a hill, and is 
generally visited by pilgrims. It has been constantly hon- 
oured by Christians of all nations, on account of its being the 
place where Jesus Christ was born ; and here, at the present 
day, is shown the manger in which it is said he was laid ; also, 
a grotto in a rock, where, according to tradition, the Blessed 
Virgin hid herself and the divine babe from the malice of 
Herod, before their departure into Egypt. They also show, 
about half a mile eastward, the field where it is said the 
shepherds were watching their flocks, when they received the 
glad tidings of the birth of Christ. 

About the distance of an hour and a quarter's journey south- 
ward from Bethlehem, are still shown the famous fountains, 
pools, and gardens, which are said to have been the delight 
of king Solomon, and to which he is supposed to allude in 
Eccles. ii. 5, 6. 



BET DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 109 

The pools are three in number, lying one above another, so 
that the waters descend from the highest into the one next 
below it, and from it into the third. The breadth of each is 
about ninety paces ; but they differ in length, the first being 
160 paces, the second 200, and the third 220. They are all 
Jined with walls which are plastered, and contain a great 
depth of water. The spring or fountain which supplies them 
with water is about 140 paces dis'ant. This the friars of 
Bethlehem insist is the sealed fountain, to which reference 
is made in Scripture, (Songs iv. 12.) and they say there is a 
tradition that Solomon shut up these springs, and kept the 
door of them sealed with his signet, that he might preserve 
their water for his own drinking, in their natural freshness 
and purity. This would not be difficult, as they rise under 
ground, and have no avenue to them but by a little hole like 
the mouth of a narrow well. Through this hole, a person may 
descend about four yards; he then arrives in a vaulted room 
about fifteen paces long, and eight broad, adjoining to which 
is another of the same form, but not quite so large. Both 
these rooms are covered with stone arches, very ancient, and 
perhaps truly the work of king Solomon. From these springs 
the water is conveyed in earthen pipes, by many turnings and 
windings about the mountains, to Jerusalem. These pools 
are more likely to be those of Solomon, from the fact that 
there is not such another store of spring- water anywhere else 
throughout all the Holy Land. 

On the west of Bethlehem is shown the well of David, so 
called from being supposed to be that whose waters he so pas- 
sionately desired. (2 Sam. xxiii. 15.) A little distance beyond 
this, are the remains of an aqueduct, which formerly conveyed 
the water from Solomon's pools to Jerusalem. This is con- 
structed of stones perforated and let into each other, secured 
with cement to prevent leaks, and is exceedingly firm and 
durable. This row of stone pipes was covered for security 
with a case of smaller stones laid over it, in very strong mor- 
tar. But the Turks have shown, in this instance, that nothing 
can be so well wrought but they are able to damage or de- 
stroy it ; for of this strong aqueduct, carried fifteen or eighteen 
miles with such vast expense and labour, you see now only 
here and there a fragment remaining. 

Bethlehem is at present a considerable place, from which 
is a delightful prospect, being surrounded with hills and val- 
leys. It has several fine streets, and a church in the form of 

K 



110 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. BET 

a cross, erected by the famous Helena : here are also several 
chapels, and convents of Latins, Greeks, and Armenians. 
The complexion of the inhabitants is very dark, almost ap- 
Droaching to black. The country around is abundant in 
grapes, figs, and other fruits, which are the principal support 
of the inhabitants. 

Beth-meon, a city in the tribe of Reuben, belonging to the 
Moabites, (Jer. xlviii. 23.) probably the same as Baal-meon, 
"Numb, xxxii. 38.) Many of the cities in this region were 
probably repossessed by the Moabites after the ten tribes had 
been carried captive into Assyria ; and hence Jeremiah repre* 
eents them as cities of the Moabites. 

Beth-nimrah, a city in the tribe of Gad, (Josh. xiii. 27 > 
called Nimrah in Numb, xxxii. 3. 

Beth-palet, (Josh. xv. 27.) or Beth-phelet, (Neh. xi. 26.) 
a city in the south of the tribe of Judah, given afterwards to 
Simeon. 

Beth-pazzez, a city of Issachar. Josh. xix. 21. 

Beth-peor, See Baal-peor. 

Beth-phage, the house of figs, a small village near Mount 
Olivet, and, as it seems, somewhat nearer to Jerusalem than 
Bethany. (Luke xix. 29.) The Jewish Talmudists say that 
a Bethphage was within the walls of Jerusalem ; but this was 
probably a place in the city where figs were sold, or a street 
might be so called which led to the village which produced 
figs, without the city. The distance from Jerusalem to the 
village of Bethphage is computed to be fifteen furlongs. 

Beth-said a, the house of fishing, a city situated at the 
northern extremity of the Lake of Gennesareth, or Sea of 
Galilee, near where the Jordan enters it: a situation very 
convenient for fishing, as its name implies; and accordingly 
we find the apostles Peter and Andrew, inhabitants of this 
place, were fishermen by trade. It is frequently mentioned 
in the New Testament, but not in the Old ; as Josephus tells 
us it was but a small village until Philip the tetrarch render- 
ed it a magnificent city, and named it Julias, out of respect 
to Julia, the daughter of Augustus Csssar. The woe denounced 
against it by our Saviour, (Matt. xi. 21.) has long since come 
upon it, being now reduced to the state of a poor village, con- 
taining but five or six mean cottages. 

Beth-shan, a city in the half tribe of Manasseh, west of 
Jordan, about twelve miles south of the sea of Galilee. (Josh, 
xvii. 11. 2 Sam. xxi. 12.) This city was called by the 



BEZ DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. Ill 

Greeks Scythopolis, or the city of the Scythians, from some 
remarkable occurrence supposed to have taken place when 
that people invaded Syria. It is said to have been 75 miles 
from Jerusalem. (2 Mace. xii. 29.) It continued to be a con- 
siderable city in the days of Eusebius and Jerom, in the fourth 
century. It is now called Bysan, and consists of 70 or 80 
houses, whose inhabitants are represented by modern travel- 
lers to be in a miserable condition, from the depredations of 
the Bedouin Arabs. The ruins of the ancient city still re- 
main, and show that it was nearly three miles in circuit. 

Beth-shemesh, the house of the sun, probably so named 
from the worship paid here to that luminary by the Canaanites. 
— A city of Judah, 30 miles west of Jerusalem, given to the 
Levites. (Josh. xxi. 16.) Here 50,000 persons were destroy- 
ed for profanely looking into the ark, which was brought by 
the kine, when sent away by the Philistines. (1 Sam. vi. 19.) 
Other cities of this name are also mentioned in the tribes of 
Naphtali and Issachar. 

Bethshemesh in Egypt, was the same as On, called by the 
Greeks Heliopolis. See Part L p. 39. 

Beth-tappuah, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 53.) situated in 
the way to Egypt, near the wilderness of Paran. 

Bethulia, a city celebrated for being besieged by Holo- 
fernes, and where, he was killed by Judith, (Judith vii.) sup- 
posed to have been situated in the west of Zebulon, near 
the sea. 

Beth-zur, or Beth-sura, a city belonging to the tribe of 
Judah. (Josh. xv. 58.) It was one of the cities fortified by 
Rehoboam; (2 Chron. xi. 7.) and appears to have been a 
place of great strength, being on the frontier of Judah towards 
Edom. Here Lysias, the regent of Syria, under Antiochus 
Epiphanes, was defeated by Judas Maccabeus, with a loss of 
eighteen thousand men. Beth-sura is said, in 2 Mace. xi. 5, 
to be only five furlongs from Jerusalem ; but this must have 
been a mistake : Eusebius makes it twenty miles from that 
city, in the way towards Hebron, which, in the time of the 
Maccabees, was the principal city of the Idumeans. It was 
probably near Hebron, but on the Jewish side of the frontier. 

Betonim, a city in the northern part of the tribe of Gad, 
bordering on Manasseh, east of Jordan. Josh. xiii. 26. 

Bezek, a city of the Canaanites, where 10,000 of them 
were slain, and Adoni-bezek, their king, taken prisoner. 
(Judges i. 4.) Eusebius and Jerom mention two towns, near 



112 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. BOZ 

together, of this name, seventeen miles from Neapolis or 
Shechem, on the way to Scythopolis or Bethshan. 

Bezer, a city in the tribe of Reuben, (Deut. iv. 43.) and 
one of the cities of refuge. It is usually styled "Bezer in 
the wilderness," or " in the plain ;" implying its situation to 
have been in a desert part of the country, probably on the side 
of Arabia. 

Bileam, a city of Manasseh, east of Jordan, given to the 
Levites of the family of Kohath. 1 Chron. vi. 70. 

Bithynia, a province of Asia Minor, stretching along the 
southern shore of the Black Sea, from Mysia to Paphlagonia ; 
having Phrygia and Galatia on the south. In this district 
are situated the two cities of Nicsea or Nice, and Chalcedon, 
both celebrated in ecclesiastical history, on account of the 
general councils held in them. When Paul first travelled 
towards Europe, the Holy Ghost allowed him not to preach 
here. (Acts xvi. 7.) But a church was afterwards establish- 
ed, as St. Peter addresses his first epistle to the Hebrew 
Christians who were scattered through this and the neigh- 
bouring countries. 

Bochim, a place supposed to be near Jerusalem, where an 
angel reproved the Israelites for their breach of covenant 
with God, in consequence of which it was declared that the 
inhabitants of the land should remain as thorns in their sides. 
On hearing this, the Israelites " lifted up their voice and 
wept," and called the place Bochim, which signifies weeping. 
Judges ii. 

Bozrah, (Gen. xxxvi. 33. Isa. xxxiv. 6. and lxiii. 1. Micali 
ii. 12.) a city of Edom, celebrated for its dyed garments, and 
its sheep. It is not known whether any vestige remains of it 
at the present time. 

There was another Bozrah in the land of Moab, (Jei. 
xlviii. 24.) thought by some to be the same as Bezer. But 
this Bozrah was probably the city of that name, or Bostra, as 
it is now called, situated east of the sea of Galilee, in the 
tribe of Manasseh ; and to which it is probable the Moabites 
extended themselves when they took possession of the vacant 
cities of Israel, after the captivity of the ten tribes. Bostra 
was made a Roman colony by Trajan, and took the title of 
Nova Trajana, the new city of Trajan. This place has been 
visited by modern travellers, who describe its ruins, particu- 
larly some beautiful columns, said to be equal to those of 



CMS 



DICTIONARY OP THE BIBLE. 



113 



Balbec or Palmyra. In different parts of these ruins are 
found Cufic, Greek, and Roman inscriptions. 




A medal of Bostra, representing on one side the head of Trajanus 
Decius : on the other a female figure, with her head crowned with tur- 
rets ; in her right hand the staff terminating in a cross ; in her left a 
cornucopia ; beside her a Silenus dancing, with a wine-bottle on his 
shoulder. There can be no doubt that this is the goddess Ashtaroth or 
Astarte. 



c. 

Cabbon, a city in the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 40. 

Cabul, a name given, by Hiram, king of Tyre, to the 
twenty cities which were given him by king Solomon, as a re- 
ward for the great services he had rendered him in building 
the temple. (1 Kings ix. 13.) Hiram, not being pleased with 
them, called them Cabul, which in the Phenician language 
signifies dirty or displeasing. They were situated in Galilee, 
and probably not far from Tyre. 

Cesarea. There were several cities of this name. 

1. CcBsarea Libanus, anciently called Arce or Area. It is 
not known when it took the name of Csesarea, or at what time 
it was made a Roman colony. 




K2 



114 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



CMS 



A medal of Caesarea Libanus, representing on one side the head of 
Alexander Severus, who was born here, in the temple of Alexander. 
On the reverse a tall figure of the goddess Astarte, standing in a temple, 
with the emperor placing a crown on her head. 

2. Ccesarea Palestina was a city situated on the Mediter- 
ranean, between Dor and Joppa, 50 miles north-west of Jeru- 
salem. It was built with great beauty and convenience by 
Herod the Great, 22 years before the birth of Christ, and 
named in honour of Augustus Csesar. The place before was 
called the Tower of Straton. The harbour at this place was 
naturally bad ; but to remedy this defect, Herod erected, at im- 
mense expense and labour, a vast mole or breakwater, built in a 
semicircular form, of stones 50 feet long and 18 wide, which 
were sunk in the water where it was 120 feet deep. Besides 
this, Herod added many splendid buildings of marble to the 
city, and fixed his residence therp, thus elevating it to the 
rank of capital of Judea. It was to this place that St. Paul 
was taken, 60 years after, to Felix, who was then governor. 
(Acts xxiv.) Here also Agrippa was smitten by an angel of 
God, so that he died. (Acts xii. 21.) This was the birth-place 
of Eusebius, the celebrated historian, who was bishop of this 
city in the beginning of the fourth century. It is now a 
scene of desolate ruins, situated in a sandy desert. The waves 
wash the ruins of the mole, the towers, and port near the sea, 
and not a creature, except jackals and beasts of prey, resides 
within many miles of this silent desolation. 



A medal of Caesarea Palestina, re- 
presenting Astarte standing on an 
altar, holding in her right hand a 
human head, in her left a staff; on 
her head the sacred Calathus, and 
a sword by her side. This is wkh- 
in a temple, on the balustrade of 
which is another figure, apparently 
looking up at the goddess. This 
proves that the worship of this 
deity was practised here. 



3. Ccesarea Philippi was first called Laish, or Leshem. 
(Judg. xviii. 7.) After it was subdued by the Danites, (verse 
29.) it was called Dan, and is by heathen writers called Pa- 




CAN DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 115 

neas. Philip, the youngest son of Herod, made it the capita 
of his tetrarchy or government, enlarged and embellished it, 
and gave it the name of Caesar ea Philippi. It is situated at 
the foot of Mount Hermon, near the head of the Jordan, and 
is about fifty miles from Damascus and thirty from Tyre. 

Our Saviour visited, taught, and healed in this place ; here 
also he rebuked Peter. (Mark viii.) The woman whom he 
healed, (Matt. ix. 20.) it is said, also lived in this town. 

Calah, one of the earliest cities of Assyria. (Gen. x. 11.) 
It is supposed to have been situated on the river Lycus, which 
falls into the Tigris ; as on the upper part of the Lycus, Stra- 
bo mentions a country called Calachene, which is conjectured 
to have received its name from this, its capital city. Dr. 
Wells supposes it to be the same with Halah, or Chalah, one 
of the cities into which Shalmaneser transplanted the people 
of Israel. If so, it must have been on the river Gozan, in 
Media, instead of the Lycus. 

Calneh, one of the cities built by Nimrod in the land of 
Shinar. See Part I. p. 14. 

Calvary, called in Latin Calvaria, and in Hebrew Golgo- 
tha ; both names implying a skull, or the place of skulls, pro- 
bably so called from its being a place of burial. This was a 
small eminence or hill, on the north of Mount Zion, and on 
the western side of Mount Moriah, said to have been 200 
paces outside of the ancient walls of Jerusalem. On this 
Mount our Lord suffered crucifixion, a mode of punishment 
at that time in general use in the east. On the summit of 
Mount Calvary stands a large and irregular building, called 
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which covers the spot 
where our Lord suffered, and the sepulchre in which he was 
laid. Here is shown the hole in the rock in which the cross 
was fixed ; and near it the position of the crosses of the two 
thieves ; also a cleft in the rock said to have been caused by 
the earthquake which happened at the crucifixion. The se- 
pulchre is about six feet square and eight feet high, in which 
is a block of stone said to be that on which the body of our 
Lord was placed. The church which covers this spot has but 
one door, the keys of which are kept by the Turks, who de- 
mand an entrance fee of nine sequins (about eight dollars) 
from every foreign Christian. 

Camon, a city in the tribe of Manasseh, east of Jordan. 
Judges x. 5. 

Cana, of Galilee, so called to distinguish it from Cana, oi 




116 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



CAN 



Kanah, in the tribe of Asher, (Josh. xix. 28.) not far from 
Sidon, and much farther north than Cana of Galilee, which 
lay in the tribe of Zebulon, eight miles north of Nazareth. At 
this place Jesus performed his first miracle, (John ii. 12.) Dr. 
Clarke visited this place, and found among" the ruins large 
stone water-pots, lying about in numbers ; from the appear- 
ance of which it was evident that the practice of keeping wa- 
ter in large stone pots, each holding from eighteen to twenty- 
seven gallons, was common in the country. This place is 
now a village, almost deserted. The church built by Helena, 
in the place where the marriage feast was held, is yet stand- 
ing, and is now a Turkish mosque. 

Canaan, or Land of Canaan, the country so named from 
having been peopled by Canaan, the son of Ham. See Part I. 
p. 26. This country was nearly 200 miles in length, and 80 
in breadth. It was bounded on the north and north-east by 
Syria and Lebanon ; on the east by Arabia Deserta and the 
land of the Ammonites and Moabites ; on the south-east by 
the country of the Midianites ; south by Edom, or Idumea ; 
south-west by Egypt; and on the west by the Mediterranean 
Sea. 

Of the people originally inhabiting this country, and of its 
conquest by the Israelites, we have treated in Part I. Those 
of the Canaanites who remained in the country after the con- 
quest, were generally made tributary to the Israelites ; but 
great numbers left it, passing by the way of Egypt into north- 
ern Africa, where they built many cities, and spread them- 
selves over vast regions, until they reached the straits of Gib- 
raltar. St. Athanasius relates that the inhabitants of this 
part of Africa, in his time, reported themselves to be descended 
from the Canaanites ; and it is agreed that the Punic or Car- 
thaginian language, was very nearly the same with the Ca- 
naanitish. According to Procopius, in the ancient city of 
Tongis, in this part of Africa, were two great pillars of white 
stone, near a large fountain, with the following inscription in 
Punic characters, " We are people preserved by flight from 
that robber Joshua, the son of Nun, who pursued us." 

Those of the original inhabitants of Canaan, who remained 
after the conquest, were chiefly inhabitants of the western 
and north-western parts of the country, along the sea-coast, 
particularly about Tyre and Sidon. This was the country 
called by the Greeks Phenicia, whose language was the 
Punic ; and froir which colonies were brought to Thebes in 



CAR DICTION AR Y OF THE BIBLE. 117 

Greece, to Cilicia, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Cyprus, and many 
other places. 

For a further account of the Land of Canaan, under the 
dominion of the Israelites, and of its subsequent and present 
state, the reader is referred to the article Judea. 

Canneh, (Ezek. xxvii. 23.) thought to be the same as 
Calneh. 

Capernaum, a city on the north-western side of the sea of 
Galilee, near the border of the tribes of Zebulon and Naph- 
tali. (Matt. iv. 13.) The infidelity and impenitence of the 
inhabitants of this place, which was honoured by the resi- 
dence of our Saviour, and which consequently had repeated 
evidences of the truth of his mission, brought upon them a 
heavy denunciation. (Matt. xi. 23, 24.) This sentence of 
destruction has been fully realized, and the ancient city is 
now reduced to a state of desolation ; a few ruins only re- 
maining of that city which was once proudly '' exalted unto 
heaven." 

Caphar-salama, a place not far west of Samaria, called 
afterwards Antipatris. Here a battle was fought between 
Judas Maccabeus and Nicanor, in which the latter was van- 
quished, -and fled with the loss of 5000 men. 1 Mace. vii. 31. 

Caphtor, the country of the Caphtorim, descendants oi 
Misraim, son of Ham. See Part I. p. 26 : also the article 
Philistines. 

Cappadocia, a country of Asia Minor, bounded north by 
Pdntus ; east by the Euphrates, which separated it from Ar- 
menia ; south-east and south by Mount Taurus and Cilicia ; 
and west by Galatia and Lycaonia. In early times this coun- 
try was tributary to the Persians, as it was afterwards to the 
Romans, until united as a province to the empire by Tiberius 
Ca?sar. The inhabitants of Cappadocia were anciently noto- 
rious for their wickedness ; being, together with the people 
of Cilicia and Crete, proverbial among the Greeks for then 
bad character, (see Crete;) but after the introduction of 
Christianity among them, it produced several great and good 
men, among whom were Gregory Nazainzen, Gregory Nis- 
sen, St. Basil, and St. George, the martyr. This was one of 
the countries, to which St. Peter addressed his first epistle ; 
and here Christianity flourished until about the ninth century ; 
nor is it yet wholly extinct. 

Carchemish, a city in Mesopotamia, upon the Euphrates, 
belonging to the kingdom of Assyria. It was taken by Pha- 



118 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. CAR 

raoh Necho, king of Egypt, and retaken by Nebuchadnezzar, 
(2 Kings xxiii. 29. 2 Chron. xxxv. 20. Jer. xlvi. 2.) and seems 
to have been a place of considerable strength and importance, 
forming a key to Assyria on its western side. Its importance 
may be estimated from the fact of a king of Egypt taking so 
long and painful a march to get possession of it. It is sup- 
posed to be the same city which was afterwards called Cir- 
cesium by the Greeks and Latins, and which was situated at 
the junction of the Chaboras with the Euphrates. It is called 
at present Kirkisia. 

Carmel, a city in the southern part of the tribe of Judah. 
(Josh. xv. 55.) This place is noted in the return of Saul 
from his expedition against the Amalekites, (1 Sam. xv. 12.) 
and was also the native place of Nabal, the husband of Abi- 
gail. It was called Carmelia by the Romans, who, according 
to Jerom, had a garrison there in his time. It is situated ten 
miles eastward from Hebron. 

Carmel, a celebrated mountain in the west of the Land of 
Canaan, situated about ten miles south of Accho or Ptolemais, 
forming a promontory on the opposite side of a bay. Accord- 
ing to modern travellers, it extends six or eight miles nearly 
north and south, coming from the plain of Esdraelon, and 
ending in the promontory or cape which forms the bay of 
Accho. Its elevation is about 1500 feet, and its sides are 
covered with trees and brambles, among which are wild vines 
and olives, proving it to have been once cultivated. 

This mountain is celebrated for the miracle wrought there 
by the prophet Elijah, (1 Kings xviii.) and a cave is still 
shown, where it is said that Elijah desired Ahab to bring 
Baal's false prophets, when the fire descended from heaven 
upon the burnt sacrifice. The historians Tacitus and Sue- 
tonius both speak of the god of Carmel, whom Vespasian 
went to consult when he was in Judea ; and say that there 
was then an altar there which was venerable for its antiquity. 
This altar of Carmel had its origin in the altar of God which 
had been erected there by the ancient Hebrews, and which 
was repaired by Elijah. This altar the heathens afterwards 
held in such veneration, that they even resorted to it as an 
oracle. 

There is now a convent of Carmelite friars on this mount, 
who say that their habitation is in the spot where the prophet 
Elijah resided. 

Carnaim, the horns, a city of Bashan, so called from 



CHE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 119 

the worship of Ashtorath, the horned goddess. See Ash- 
taroth. 

Casiphia, a place to which Ezra sent messengers to Iddo. 
\Ezra viii. 17.) It is the opinion of Calmet that Caspius, 
near the Caspian sea, in the north of Media, where dweh 
many captive Jews, is here meant ; but others think that dis- 
tance too far for such a mission, and suppose it was some 
olace nearer Babylon. 

Casluhim, the descendants of Casluh, son of Misraim, who 
dwelt with the Caphtorim, at the entrance of Egypt from 
Palestine, between Misraim and the Philistim. See Part I 
p. 26. 

Casphin, or Caspis, a town west of Jerusalem, not far 
from Jamnia ; it was a strong place, situated on a lake, and 
was taken by Judas Maccabeus. 2 Mace. xii. 13. 

Cedron, a brook near Jerusalem. See Kidron. 

Cenchrea, a port belonging to the city of Corinth, about 
rune miles distant ; from which St. Paul sailed for Ephesus. 
Acts xviii. 18. 

Chaldea, the country otherwise called Shinar ; or Babylo- 
nia, lying on both sides of the Euphrates, of which Babylon 
was the capital ; extending southward to the Persian Gulf, and 
northward into Mesopotamia. It had Elam or Persia on the 
east, and Arabia Deserta west. This country, and its people, 
are called in the Hebrew text, Chasdim, and are generally 
supposed to have derived their name from Chesed, a son of 
Nahor, the brother of Abraham. The early history of the 
Chaldeans is very obscure ; they appear to have been an un- 
settled and predatory people, until collected together by Ni- 
nus, who is supposed to have been the son of Nimrod or Ashur, 
and brought under the Assyrian dominion. 

The Chaldeans are renowned as the founders of astronomi- 
cal science ; and appear to have long existed in Babylonia as 
a distinct race of astrologers, philosophers, and priests, or 
magi, rather than as a nation of themselves ; and as such they 
are found at Babylon in the reign of Belshazzar, who, to- 
gether with the astrologers and soothsayers, summoned the 
Chaldeans to interpret the mysterious writing on the wall. 

Characa, a city of the tribe of Gad, from which Judas 
Maccabeus drove Timotheus. 2 Mace. xii. 17. 

Charran, the same as Haran. See Part I. p. 30. 

Chebar, a river in Chaldea, where the prophet Ezekiel saw 



120 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. CIL 

several of his visions ; probably the same called afterward? 
Chaboras, which rises in the mountains in the upper part of 
Mesopotamia, and, running south-west, empties into the Eu- 
phrates near Carchemish. 

Chelmon, a city opposite to Esdraelon, near which Holo- 
fernes encamped before he went to lay siege to Bethulia. 
Judith vii. 3. 

Chephirah, a city of the Gibeonites, afterwards belonging 
io the tribe of Benjamin. Josh. ix. 17. xviii. 26. 

Cherith, a brook near which the prophet Elijah lay some- 
time concealed, to avoid the persecution of Jezebel; and 
where the ravens, every morning and evening, brought him 
bread and meat. (1 Kings xvii. 3, 4.) The situation of this 
brook is doubtful ; probably it was a western branch of the 
Jordan, on the confines of Ephraim and Benjamin. 

Chesalon, a city in the tribe of Judah, thought to be the 
same as Jeariin. Josh. xv. 10. 

Chesil, a city belonging to the tribe of Judah. (Josh. xv. 
30.) Eusebius calls it Exalus, and places it in the southern 
part of Judah. 

Chesulloth, a city of Zebulon or Issachar. Josh. xix. 
12. 18. 

Chezib, See Achzib. 

Chios, an island of the Grecian Archipelago, between Les- 
bos and Samos, and about four leagues from the continent, 
opposite Smyrna. This island was passed by St. Paul in his 
voyage from Mytilene to Samos. (Acts xx. 15.) It does not 
appear that any church was established here for a long time 
after the age of the apostles. This island is now called Scio, 
and was extremely rich and beautiful, until the recent attempt 
of the Greeks to recover their independence. In the course 
of the warfare which ensued, Scio was attacked by the Turks, 
and ruthlessly desolated with fire and sword. 

Chittim, the descendants of Chittim, Kittim, or Keth, the 
third son of Javan, and grandson of Japhet. See Part L p. 19. 

Chorazin, a city near the northern extremity of the sea of 
Galilee, mentioned in the New Testament among the cities 
where most of our Saviour's miracles had been performed ; 
and against which a woe was denounced in consequence of 
the unbelief of the inhabitants. (Matt. xi. 21. Luke x. 13.) 
This woe has been accomplished ; for Chorazin and Bethsaida 
are now deserted ruins. 

Cilicia, a country of Asia Minor, supposed to have been 



COO DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 121 

colonized by Phenicians, and to have derived its name from 
Cilix, son of Agenor, a king of Phenicia. It was bounded on 
the north by Lycaonia and Cappadocia ; on the east by Syria ; 
on the south by the Mediterranean ; and on the west by Pam- 
phylia. Its capital city was Tarsus, famous as the birth-place 
of the apostle Paul. Cicero was proconsul of this province, 
under the Roman government. 

Cinnereth, Chinnereth, or Chinneroth, a city on the north- 
western side of the sea of Galilee, which, from it, is frequent- 
ly called in the Old Testament, the sea of Cinneroth ; from 
which word that of Gennesaretk, in the New Testament, 
was probably derived. This town is thought by some to have 
been afterwards called Tiberias, though the learned Reland is 
of a contrary opinion. The city of Tiberias undoubtedly was 
situated on the shore of this sea, which is also called the sea 
of Tiberias. 

Claud a, an island in the Adriatic sea, south-west from 
Crete ; near which St. Paul sailed in his voyage to Rome, in 
the midst of that tempest by which he was shipwrecked at 
Malta. Acts xxvii. 16, 

Cnidus, a city of Doris in Caria, a province in the south- 
west of Asia Minor, notorious for the worship of Venus, 
whose famous statue by Praxiteles stood here. Extensive 
ruins of this place yet remain. St Paul passed it on his voy- 
age as a prisoner to Rome. 

Co:lo-Syria, Syria in the vale, a name applied particularly 
to the valley lying between the mountainous ridges, Libanus 
and Anti- Libanus ; but sometimes used in a larger sense for 
the whole country lying north-east of Canaan towards Da- 
mascus. 

Colossi, a. city of Phrygia, between Laodicea and Hiera- 
polis ; situated, according to Herodotus, where the river Ly- 
cus disappears, running under ground about half a mile, and 
then rises again and empties into the river Mseander. It is 
mentioned by St. Paul, with Laodicea and Hierapolis, (Col. 
iv. 13.) and, according to Eusebius, was destroyed with the 
other two cities, by an earthquake, in the tenth year of the 
emperor Nero, about a year after the writing of the epistle 
of Paul to its inhabitants : from which calamity it never re- 
vived, and is now buried in ruins. 

Coos, an island of the Archipelago, lying near the south- 
west point of Asia Minor ; passed by St. Paul in his voyage 

L 



122 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



COR 



from Ephesus to Jerusalem. (Acts xxi. 1.) This island was the 
birth-place of the celebrated physician Hippocrates, and the 
painter Apelles. It is now called Stancho, and is represented 
as a beautiful and fertile island, abounding in corn, fruit, and 
vegetables. Grapes, figs, oranges, and lemons, are produced 
in abundance, and numerous flocks and herds are scattered 
over the plains. The population is estimated at 4000 ; one 
naif Turks, and the rest Greeks and Jews. To each of these 
nations a distinct quarter is assigned in the town of Stancho, 
which is the capital. 

Corinth, a celebrated city of Greece, the metropolis oi 
\chaia, situated on the isthmus which joins the Peloponne- 
sus, or Morea, to Attica on the continent. This city was one 
of the most populous and wealthy of all Greece, owing to its 
favourable situation for trade. It was destroyed in the year 
146 before Christ, by the Romans ; when, during the confla- 
gration, statues of various metals, in a melted state, acci- 
dentally running together, formed the celebrated composition 
called JEs Corinthium, or Corinthian brass, which was ac- 
counted more valuable than gold. A hundred years after this 
it was rebuilt by Julius Caesar, who planted a Roman colony 
there, and made it the residence of the proconsul of Achaia. 
[t soon regained its former splendour and prosperity, and be- 
came the most beautiful city of Greece ; being also the resi- 
dence of many celebrated artists and philosophers. Hence 
the address of St. Paul to them, " Ye are rich, ye are wise, 
ye are honourable." The order of architecture chiefly used 
in this city, gave the name of Corinthian to pillars of that 
style. 

St. Paul came to preach at Corinth in the year of Christ 
52, and was much opposed by the Jews, who took him before 
the tribunal of the proconsul Gallio, the brother of the famous 
philosopher Seneca ; but Gallio, equally indifferent both to Ju- 
daism and Christianity, finding that Paul had committed no 
breach of morality, or of the public peace, refused to hear 
the complaint, and drove them from the judgment-seat. (Acts 
xviii.) St. Paul was thus at liberty to remain at Corintn, 
where he succeeded in converting many, and among others 
Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and all his house. 

The manners of the people were particularly corrupt ; in 
the centre of the city was a celebrated temple of Venus, and 
the Isthmian games were held near it, which gave occasion 



COR 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



123 



ft) the allusion of St. Paul in chapter ix. v. 24, of his first 
epistle io the Corinthians. 

In the year A. D. 268, Corinth was taken and burned by 
the Heruli ; and in 525 was again almost ruined by an earth- 
quake. About the year 1180, it was taken and plundered by 
Roger, king of Sicily. From the year 1458, until the period 
of the late revolution, Corinth remained under the govern- 
ment of the Turks ; but it is now included within the recently 
erected kingdom of Greece. 




A very ancient medal of Corinth, representing the Chimera, a fabu- 
lous monster with the inscription Korinthion, and the hero Bellero- 
phon, mounted on the winged horse Pegasus, in the act of combating 
the Chimera. This emblem was foreign to Corinth, and in all proba- 
bility denotes an eastern origin. The Chimera was of Lycia, in Asia 
Minor. 




These medals commemorate the Isthmian games, celebrated on the 
Isthmus of Corinth, in honour of Neptune. They were celebrated 
every fifth year, and the reward of the victor was a garland of parsley • 
originally a branch of the pine tree. No. 3. appears to have been 
Btruck at the time when Claudius Optatus was Duumvir. 



124 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



CRE 



No. 4. 




This medal appears to denote the worship of the sun, which certainly 
existed at Corinth, as Pausanias there saw his altars. Macrobius says 
the sun was the same as Apollo, and the name Apollo is thought to be 
derived from the Greek pallein, shooting abroad his rays. Pausanias 
mentions a temple dedicated to Apollo Carneus, who certainly was a 
radiated deity, and was probably the Carnaim of Scripture, or the male 
deity of which Ashtaroth Carnaim was the female. 

Crete, an island in the Mediterranean, now called Candia, 
lying at the entrance of the Egean sea, or Archipelago. It 
is one of the noblest islands in the Mediterranean, and was 
formerly called Hecatompolis, the island of a hundred cities ; 
also, Macarios, or Macaronesus, the happy^ island, from the 
richness of the soil and the salubrity of the air. St. Paul 
sailed near this island in his voyage to Italy. Acts xxvii. 
7, &c. 

Crete is believed to have been originally peopled by the 
Caphtorim. In the time of the Greek writers, its inhabitants 
were in bad repute; being represented by Polybius and 
others, as addicted to piracy, robbery, gluttony, falsehood, and 
almost every crime. So thoroughly was their character 
established for lying, that, as we read in Homer, when 
Ulysses designs to deliver a falsehood, he always assumes the 
character of a Cretan. In common speech, the expression 
" to cretanise" signified to tell lies. Epimenides, one of 
their own poets, and also Callimachus, gives them the same 
character, to which St. Paul alludes in his epistle to Titus, i. 
12. The bad character of the Cretans, Cappadocians, and 
Cilicians, gave rise to the old Greek proverb, tria kappa 
kakista, beware of xhe three k's, i. e. Kappadocia, Kilicia, 
and Krete. 



CRE 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



125 



In tnis island reigned Minos and Rhadamanthus, whose 
laws were in great repute among the Greeks, and who, from 
their justice and equity, were fabled by the poets to be 
together with iEacus, the judges in the world of spirits. 
Here also was the celebrated labyrinth made by Daedalus, 
which was said to have been so intricate, from its many wind- 
ings and turnings, that when a person had once entered, it 
was impossible for him to find the way out again, without the 
help of a clue of thread. In this labyrinth was confined the 
famous fabulous monster Minotaur, which was destroyed by 
Theseus. 




A medal of Crete, representing on one side the Minotaur, and on the 
other the labyrinth in which, according to the fable, he was confined. 
This Minotaur was a monster, having a human body with a bull's 
head ; or according to Ovid, " Semibovemque virum, semivirumque 
bwem" half man and half bull. Dr. Wells conceives this figure to 
have reference to the original country from which he supposes the 
Cretans to have come, i. e. from that of which Mount Taurus, bull, is 
the head, as this mountain was represented by many eastern nations 
under the figure of a bull. It is remarkable that the LXX. and other 
interpreters of Scripture, understand the golden calf, made by Israel in 
the wilderness, as being of this figure, only having the head of a calf. 

Crete was taken by the Romans under Metellus, after a 
vigorous resistance of above two years ; and formed a Roman 
province with the small kingdom of Cyrene, on the coast of 
Libya. In the time of the apostle Paul, Titus, to whom the 
epistle is addressed, was bishop of Crete : in the reign of the 
emperor Leo, it had twelve bishops, subject to Constantino- 
ple. In the reign of Michael II. it was seized by the Sara- 
cens, who held it 127 years, till they were expelled by the 
emperor Phocas. It remained under the dominion of the 
emperor until given, by Baldwin, earl of Flanders, who had 
been raised to the throne, to Bonifacio, Marquis of Montserrat, 
L2 



126 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. CUS 

who sold it to the Venetians, A. D. 1194. Under their gov- 
ernment it flourished greatly ; but was unexpectedly attacked 
by the Turks, in the midst of peace. The siege lasted 24 
years, being commenced in 1646, and ending in 1670 ; hav- 
ing cost the Turks 200,000 men. This island is 200 "miles 
long, and 50 broad. Its principal city is Candia, formerly 
strong, rich, and populous, but now not more than the eighth 
part of the houses are inhabited. Such is the consequence of 
Turkish despotism, reducing the finest and most flourishing 
places to poverty and desolation. 

Cush, Cutha, or Cushan, a name applied in Scripture to 
the posterity of Cush, the son of Ham, and also to the coun- 
try inhabited by them. The word Cush, in most versions of 
the Bible, has been translated Ethiopia, and as only one, or 
at most two countries of that name are known to us, very 
great confusion has been produced by that translation, with 
regard to a proper understanding of several passages, as far 
as geographical accuracy is concerned. 

The family of Cush appears to have been numerous, and 
the establishments of his descendants to have been proportion- 
ably dispersed, not in one region only, but in several. The 
first country which bore this name, and which doubtless was 
the original settlement, was that which is described by Mo- 
ses -as encompassed by the river Gihon, or Gyndes; which en- 
circles a great part of Chuzestan, in Persia. In process of 
time, the increasing family spread over the vast territory of 
India and Arabia ; the whole of which tract, from the Ganges 
to the borders of Egypt, then became the land of Cush, or 
Asiatic Ethiopia. Until dispossessed of this country, or a 
great part of it, by the posterity of Abraham, the Ishmaelites 
and Midianites, they, by a farther dispersion, passed over into 
Africa, which, in its turn, became the land of Cush or African 
Ethiopia, the only country called Ethiopia after the commence- 
ment of the Christian era. Even from this last refuge they 
were compelled, by the influx of fresh settlers from Arabia, 
Egypt, and Canaan, to extend their migrations still further, 
into the heart of the African continent, where only, in the 
woolly-headed negro, the genuine Cushite is to be found. 

There was then a threefold land of Cush, or Ethiopia, to 
each of which some of the transactions mentioned in Scripture 
under that name, are to be referred. We have seen where, 
on the authority of Moses, was the first land of Cush : that 
Arabia was likewise so denominated, appears from Ezekiel, 



CUS DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 127 

(xxix. 10.) whom God makes to say, " I will make the land 
of Egypt desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the 
borders of Cush." Now as the tower of Syene was at its 
southern extremity, the border of Cush, or its opposite one, 
could be no other than its northern, or Arabian border. The 
prophet Habakkuk, (iii. 7.) also joins it with Midian, which 
was in Arabia. Besides the passages of Scripture already 
mentioned, referring to Arabian Ethiopia, may be mentioned, 
Numb. xii. 1. 2 Kings xix. 9. 2 Chron. xxi. 16. xiv. 9. Isa. 
xxxvii. 9. 

At what time the term Ethiopian was applied to the Cush- 
ite colonies in Africa, it is difficult to determine. But it ap- 
pears certain that some at least of these colonies were plant- 
ed by the Cuthite shepherds, who invaded Egypt from the 
east, and held it in subjection for the space of 260 years, im- 
mediately preceding the time of Joseph, or, according to some 
writers, 100 years before this time ; and the remainder by a 
second invasion and a new dynasty, which extended to the time 
of the going out of the Israelites, when, or at a former expul- 
sion, a part of the discomfited Cuthites retreated up the Nile. 
In 2 Chron. xii. 2, 3. it is said that Shishak, king of Egypt, 
came up against Jerusalem, with certain African nations, 
among whom are mentioned the Ethiopians ; and in chap. xvi. 
8. the Lubim, or Libyans, are also associated with the Ethio- 
pians. Daniel, (xi. 43.) with the same exclusive reference to 
Africa, mentions the Ethiopians in conjunction with Egypt and 
Libya. 

Herodotus relates that in the army of Xerxes, which he 
had prepared for the invasion of Greece, 480 years before 
Christ, there were both Oriental and African Ethiopians ; and 
adds the singular fact that they resembled each other in every 
particular, except their hair ; that of the Asiatic Ethiopians 
being long and straight, while the hair of those of Africa was 
curled. This may be accounted for on the ground of a change 
of climate and habits. 

The curse denounced on the posterity of Ham, and which 
has pursued this, the most numerous branch of his family, 
from Persia to Arabia, and from Arabia to Africa, degenera- 
ting at each remove, is most conspicuous in their present con- 
dition. While employed in Arabia, as merchants and shep- 
herds, or as carriers between the descendants of Shem and 
Japhet, some portion of civilization yet remained with them, 
and the distinctive marks of the family doubtless even then 



128 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



CUT 



existed ; the dark skin and the Ethiopic physiognomy : but it 
required a hotter clime, and a lower grade of moral degrada- 
tion, to mould that physiognomy into that of the modern Afri- 
can, to give the skin a deeper dye, and to add to the whole 
the woolly head. 

In the time of our Saviour, and from that time to the present, 
Ethiopia has been used, in a general sense, to comprehend the 
countries south of Egypt, then but imperfectly known, of one 
of which that Candace was queen, whose eunuch was bap- 
tized by Philip. (Acts viii. 27.) This eunuch, in the Syriac 
Testament, is called the Cushite. Mr. Bruce mentions a 
place which he found on his return from Abyssinia, called 
Chendi, where a tradition existed that a woman named Hen- 
daque (which comes very near the Greek name of this queen, 
Chandake) once governed all this country. Near this place 
he found extensive ruins, denoting it to have once been a place 
of consequence. 

Thus, from the history of the Cushites or Ethiopians, we 
see that they are not to be confined to either Arabia or Africa. 
Many parts of Scripture history cannot be understood without 
supposing them to have settlements in both ; which Herodotus 
expressly asserts was the case. In fine, we may conclude, 
that in the times of the prophets, and during the transactions 
recorded in the second books of Kings and Chronicles, the Cush- 
ites, still retaining a part of their ancient possessions in Ara- 
bia, had crossed the Red Sea in great numbers, and obtained ex- 
tensive possessions in Africa; where, being, in a further course 
of time, altogether expelled from the east by the Ishmaelites 
and others, their remains are now concentrated. It is to be 
observed, however, that the Cushites, probably at the time of 
their expulsion from Egypt, migrated, or sent colonies, into 
several other parts, particularly to Phenicia, Colchis, and 
Greece ; where, in process of time, they became blended with 
the other inhabitants of those countries, the families of Javan, 
Meshech, and Tubal, and their distinctive character totally 
lost. 

Cuthah, a Chaldee name, signifying the land of Cush. 
" The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from 
Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sephar- 
vaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the 
children of Israel." (2 Kings xvii. 24.) The Cuthah here 
meant must be a province of the Assyrian empire, which, ?§ 
some say, lies upon the Araxes, and is the same as Cush ; but 



CYP 



E.OTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



129 



others suppose it to mean the original land of Cush, or Chuses- 
tan, about the lower Euphrates. 

Cyprus, a large island in the Mediterranean, situated be- 
tween Syria and Cilicia, about 100 miles from the former, and 
60 from the latter ; extending in length, from east to west, 
about 200 miles, and in breadth 60. It is supposed to have 
been first settled by colonies of the Kittim or Chittim, whose 
name was preserved in that of the city called Citium by the 
Romans. Others, however, believe it to have been colonized 
by the Phenicians. The name Cyprus, given to this island 
by the Greeks, is said to come from the cypress-tree, which 
grows there in great abundance. 

This island was famous in the time of the Greeks and 
Romans for the worship of Venus, who was thence called 
Cypria, or the Cyprian goddess. Salamis was a city of this 
island, where Paul and Barnabas preached, (Acts xiii. 4, 5, 6.) 
and introduced Christianity instead of the heathen abomina- 
tions of Cyprian worship. 




A coin of Cyprus, representing the temple of Venus, and showing 
that she was worshipped in this island, as in India, in the shape of a 
meta, or conical stone. This agrees wath the description of her temple 
at Paphos, by Tacitus, who says the image of the goddess was not of 
the human form, but a smooth stone, i. e. the meta. Maximus Tyrius 
also says, the image of the goddess was a pyramid of white stone. The 
crescent on the top of the temple marks this divinity for the female 
power of nature. 

The figure on the other side, holding a flower, is Jupiter Agreus. 
The inscription, epistr. kyprion, possibly refers to the taking of the 
island by the Romans. Zen on was a name common to some of the 
Roman emperors on the throne of Constantinople, in the fifth and sixth 
centuries. 



130 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



CYR 




A coin of Paphos, now called Baffb, in the island of Cyprus, showing 
that Venus was the deity there worshipped, whence she was called the 
Paphian Goddess. The figure with the bow is Cupid, who received 
equal honour at the same place, as is denoted by the inscription, papa- 
phion. According to Pausanias, the Paphian Venus was originally- 
worshipped in Assyria : it was adopted in Cyprus and in Ascalon by 
the Phenicians. 

Cyprus formerly-contained several petty kingdoms, tributary 
to Egypt, and afterwards to the Romans, from whom it was 
taken by the Saracens : it subsequently passed under the domi- 
nion of the Turks ; and, like most of their other possessions, has 
been reduced from the state of a populous and flourishing" coun- 
try, to that of a ruinous and desolate region. When conquered 
by the Turks in 1570, the population was estimated at one 
million ; but at present it is only about 40,000. In this island 
are about forty Greek monasteries, and two Catholic convents. 
Mr. Connor, who recently visited this island, states that he 
was received in the kindest manner by the Greek archbishop, 
and gives an encouraging prospect of the circulation of the 
Scriptures among the inhabitants. 

Cyrene, the capital of Libya, which gave the name of Cy- 
renaica to the country in which it stood. It was founded by 
a Grecian colony, and situated in a fertile plain, near the 
Mediterranean, about 500 miles west of Alexandria. This 
place is celebrated in profane history for the birth of Eratos- 
thenes, the mathematician, and Callimachus, the poet. " From 
the parts of Libya about Cyrene" we read (Acts ii. 10.) that 
Jews went up to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost Of 
this place was also Simon, the Cyrenean, whom the Jews 
compelled to bear the cross of our Saviour. Matt, xxvii. 32. 
Luke xxiii. 26. 



DAL 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



131 



The district of Cyrene was sometimes called Pehtapolis, 
on account of its containing five principal cities, Cyrene, 
Apollonia, Arsinoe, Berenice, and Ptolemais. Each of these 
Bad medals of its own, but some were common to the whole 
country. 




From these medals it appears that the people of Cyrene were fond 
of chariot-races, and addicted to the worship of Jupiter- As this pro- 
vince adjoined Egypt, their predilection for Jupiter Amraon is easily 
accounted for. The plant Silphium and the palm-tree were common 
here, and frequently represented on their coins. The harp of Apollo is 
agreeable to the sports and pastimes usually accompanying the chariot- 
races of antiquity. This apparent fondness for pomp and show, and also 
of the arts, in a people of that part of Africa, may be accounted for by 
the fact that they were a Greek colony. 



D. 

Dabbasheth, a city in the tribe of Zebulon, near the bor- 
der of Issachar. Josh. xix. 11. 

Dabereth, a city of Issachar on the border of Zebulon. 
(Josh. xix. 12. xxi. 28.) This was a city of the Levites, and 
is thought to be the same which Jerom calls Debira, towards 
Mount Tabor. 

Dalmanutha, a place near Magdala, or included in its ter- 
ritory ; and probably situated on the east side of the sea of 
Galilee. See Magdala. 



132 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. DAM 

Dalmatia, the southern part of Illyricum, a province lying 
on the eastern coast of the Adriatic, or Gulf of Venice. This 
is the country to which Titus went and preached the gospel, 
$ Tim. iv. 10.) since which time the Christian religion has 
been continued here. 

Damascus, a celebrated city in Syria, and one of the most 
ancient and venerable, on account of its antiquity, in the 
whole world, being noted as the birth-place of Eliezer, the 
steward of Abraham, (Gen. xv. 2.) and founded, according to 
Josephus, by Uz, the son of Aram, and grandson of Shem. 
At is also remarkable for being the only city of equal antiquity 
which retains to the present day a high degree of eminence 
for its wealth and population. 

It is situated on the western side of a vast plain, open to an 
immense distance on the south and east, but inclosed on the 
west and north, by the mountains of Anti-Libanus. At about 
two miles' distance, the river Barrady issues from these moun- 
tains, and supplies the city and the numerous gardens around 
it with abundance of water, which renders it the most fertile 
and delightful spot in all Syria. The Turks and Arabs be- 
lieve it to have been the original Paradise, and that it has not 
its equal on earth. They also have a tradition that their 
prophet, Mahomet, coming in sight of the city, was so struck 
with the exceeding beauty and richness of the place, that he 
resolved not to enter it, lest he should be tempted to resign 
the heavenly Paradise, to which he aspired, for the paradise 
of earth, which he saw before him. 

The principal cause of the flourishing state of Damascus 
arises from the pilgrims from the northern parts of Asia, w T ho 
unite at this point, from whence they proceed in a body to 
Mecca. Their number amounts in each year to 30 or 50,000, 
many of whom remain three or four months in the city, be- 
fore the period of their departure arrives, when they set out 
across the desert in one great caravan, a journey of 40 days 
to Mecca, and as many back. Each of this army of pilgrims, 
in order to receive some wordly as well as spiritual benefit 
from his journey, loads his camel or his mule with the pro- 
ductions of his own country, which he disposes of on his 
route, and returns freighted with the goods of India, of which 
Jidda, the port of Mecca, is the great depot. Thus this im- 
mense caravan engrosses to itself the trade of the countries 
through which it passes ; and of all this trade Damascus is 
the centre, and, together with Aleppo, derives considerable 



DAM DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 133 

advantage from it. This is, in fact, the present channel of 
that communication, partly over land, and partly by the Ara- 
bian Gulf and Red Sea, between India and the countries of 
the north and west, which has existed from the earliest ages, 
of which Babylon, Palmyra, Tyre, Sidon, Alexandria, and 
even Jerusalem, have, at different times, been the principal 
marts. 

Damascus, in its earliest history, appears to have apper- 
tained to the kingdom of Zobah. 2 Sam. viii. 5, 6. 1 Kings 
xi.(23, 24.) From the latter passage of Scripture, it appears 
that the Syrian kingdom of Damascus originated either dur- 
ing the reign of David or Solomon : the city and the rest of 
Syria having before been subject to a king whose residence 
was at Zobah ; though in still earlier times it is probable that 
Damascus, which was at least as ancient as Zobah, was an 
independent city. It continued to be the capital of the Syrian 
kingdom until about the year 740 before Christ, when Ti- 
glath-Pileser took it, and killed Rezin the king : after which 
it was subject to the kings of Assyria, until the overthrow of 
that empire. 

In the early ages of Christianity, Damascus was the seat 
of a patriarch ; and the church of St. John the Baptist still 
exists, though now converted into a Turkish mosque. In this 
church are said to be preserved the head of St. John, and 
some other relics, esteemed so holy that it is death, even for a 
Turk, to presume to go into the room where they are kept. 
Here is shown the house of Ananias, (Acts ix. 17.) and also 
the place where he restored sight to St. Paul, (Acts ix. 17.) 
as well as the place where Paul was let down in a basket 
(Acts ix. 25.) The place of his vision and miraculous con- 
version is about half a mile from the city, eastward ; and the 
place where he rested, in his way to the city, after the vision, 
(Acts ix, 8.) is about a quarter of a mile. The street called 
straight, (Acts ix.ll.) yet exists, and is about half a mile long, 
running from east to west through the city. In this street is 
shown the house of Judas, with whom St. Paul lodged, and 
in the same house an ancient tomb, said to be that of Ananias. 

The city is now called Sham, and is four or five miles in 
circumference ; being reputed to contain 80,000 inhabitants : 
it lies about 60 miles east from Sidon, and 150 north-east 
from Jerusalem. It was visited in 1820, by the Rev. James 
Connor, agent of the Church Missionary Society, who gives 
an encouraging view of the success of his exertions at this 

M 






134 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



DAM 



place. The patriarch of Antioch, the head of the Christian 
church in the East, who resides at Damascus, received him in 
the most friendly manner. He undertook to promote and 
encourage the circulation of the Holy Scriptures to the 
utmost extent of his power ; and he immediately sent letters 
to his bishops and archbishops, urging them to promote the 
objects of the Bible Society in their respective stations. This 
is a most gratifying prospect, as there could not be a more 
favourable spot selected for dispersing (by means of the im- 
mense confluence of merchants and pilgrims at this place) the 
Scriptures through all the countries of Asia. 




No. 1. A medal of Damascus, representing on the reverse the tur- 
reted goddess ; holding out her right hand, in her left the cornucopia, 
and at her feet the personification of a river. The inscription, Basile- 
os aretou philellenos, denotes it to be a medal of king Aretas ; but 
as there were several kings of Damascus or Arabia of that name, we 
must examine the date, which is ap, 130, of the era of the Seleucidae, and 
therefore brings us to the time of the Aretas mentioned in 2 Mace. v. 
8. and who lived 170 years before Christ. The king Aretas whose go- 
vernor at Damascus is mentioned as nearly seizing St. Paul, (2 Cor. xi. 
32. Acts ix. 25.) was another of that name. 







DAN DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 135 

No. 2. In the upper part of this medal is a temple, in which is Sile- 
nus ; below, a grotto, in which reclines a female figure, holding in her 
right hand ears of corn, in her left a cornucopia ; resting on an urn, 
from which flows a stream of water; before this grotto, an altar, no 
doubt in honour of the goddess: inscription, the same as No. 2, with the 
additional motto, pegai, fountains or springs. The meaning of the 
whole seems to be the same as No. 1 and 2; the urn holding the place 
of the figure denoting the ri\ er on No. 1. It is, however, probable that 
they refer to the river Barrady, by which the vineyards and gardens of 
the city of Damascus were watered ; and to which, consequently, the 
inhabitants were indebted for their fruits and wines. 

No. 3. On this medal we have five cities, represented by female 
figures, offering in a solemn manner, before an altar, a collection of 
fruits to the goddess sitting on a rock ; before whom stands a Silenus, with 
his wine-bottle ; and behind whom flies the winged horse. The goddess 
points with her right hand ; in her left she holds the cornucopia. This 
medal probably imports a commemoration, by Damascus and other Sy- 
rian cities, of the original goddess of plenty, &c. in regions much fur- 
ther east ; and that they are offering the fruits of their gardens to that 
origin from whence they first received them. The altar plainly denotes 
an act of worship : the Silenus refers to Bacchus, who was certainly a 
deity of the east. Inscription, Damascus, a colony and metropolis. 

The species of plum called damascene, as well as the da- 
mask rose, was orignally transplanted from the gardens of 
this city to Europe ; and the flowered silks and linens called 
damasks were originally among the manufactures of Damas- 
cus, and thence derived their name. 

Dan, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part I. p. 64. 

Dan, a city called Laish, or Leshem, before it was pos- 
sessed by the Danites, who called it after the name of their 
father, or tribe. (Josh. xix. 47. Judges xviii. 29.) It was 
situated at the extreme northern point of the Jewish territo- 
ry, near the head of the Jordan. From this, its extreme 
northern position, and that of Beersheba in the south, the two 
places are frequently thus mentioned in Scripture, namely, 
"from Dan even unto Beersheba," to describe the whole 
length of the country. 

It was at this place that Chedorlaomer, after he had invaded 
the Land of Canaan and defeated the five kings, having taken 
away Lot as a prisoner, was overtaken by Abraham, who fell 
upon him by night, routed him, and recovered Lot and all 
his property. (Gen. xiv.) Here Jeroboam set up one of his 
golden calves. (1 Kings xii. 29.) After the death of Herod, 
when his kingdom was divided, this city fell to the lot of his 
youngest son Philip, who made it the capital of his tetrarchy 
of Iturea and Trachonitis. He enlarged and beautified it 



136 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



DEA 



and gave it the name of Csesarea Philippi, under which name 
it is mentioned in the New Testament ; being honoured by 
the presence of our Saviour (Mark viii. 27.) This place is 
called by the heathen Paneas ; its modern name is Banias ; 
situated at the foot of the western branch of Mount Her- 
mon. 

Dinnah, a city of Judah, See Debir. 

Dead Sea, anciently called the Sea of the Plain (Deut. 
iii. 17. and iv. 49.) from its situation in the great valley or 
plain of the Jordan ; the Salt Sea (Deut. iii. 17. Josh. xv. 5.) 
from the extreme saltness of its waters ; and the East Sea 
(Ezek. xlvii. 18. Joel ii. 20.) from its situation on the east of 
Judea. By Josephus, and the Greek and Latin writers 
generally, it is called Lacus Asphaltites, from the bitumen 
Pound in it ; and the name Dead Sea by which it is usually 
called at present, comes from a tradition, commonly, though 
erroneously received, that no living creature could exist in 
its saline and sulphurous waters. 

This sea is about 70 miles in length, and 20 in breadth at 
its widest part; having, like the Caspian, no visible com- 
munication with the ocean. Its depth seems to be altogether 
unknown ; nor does it appear that a boat has ever navigated 
its surface. Towards its southern extremity, however, in a 
narrow part of it, is a ford about six miles over, used by the 
Arabs ; who say that in the middle the water is warm, indi- 
cating the presence of warm springs beneath. In general, 
towards the shore, it is shallow ; and rises and falls with the 
seasons, and the quantity of water carried into it by the Jor- 
dan and other streams. It also appears either to be on the 
increase, or to be lower in some years than in others ; which 
makes it probable that those travellers are to be credited 
who assert that they have beheld the ruins of cities, either 
exposed or engulfed beneath the waters. Troilo and D'Ar- 
vieux assert that they observed fragments of walls, &c. 
Josephus says that he perceived traces or shades of the cities 
on the banks of the lake. Strabo gives a circumference of 
about seven miles to the ruins of Sodom ; and two aged and 
respectable inhabitants of Jerusalem told Mr. Maundrell, the 
traveller, that they had once been able to see some parts of 
these ruins ; that they were near the shore, and the water so 
shallow at the time, that they, together with some French- 
men, went into it and found several pillars and fragments of 
buildings. These authorities are not to be despised, and we 



DEB DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 137 

may suppose, that, at the first destruction of these guilty 
cities, they were not entirely overwhelmed with the waters, 
but remained more or less exposed to view, as monuments of 
the judgments of God ; and that from the slow increase of 
the waters for nearly 4000 years, they have gradually 
receded from our sight, and are now only to be seen through 
the water, if seen at all, after seasons of long continued 
drought. 

This sea now covers what was once the vale of Siddim, 
containing the five cities of the plain, Sodom, Gomorrah, 
Admah, Zeboim, and Bela or Zoar. See Part I. p. 31. Its 
water is far more salt than that of the ocean ; 100 pounds of 
the water yielding 41 pounds of salts ; while 100 pounds of 
water from the Atlantic only yields 6 pounds of salts. The 
specific gravity of the water is 1.211, that of common water 
being 1.000. A bottle of it, having been brought to England, 
was analyzed by Dr. Marcet, who, from 100 grains of the 
water, obtained the following result : 

Grains. 

Muriate of lime, 3.920 

Muriate of Magnesia, 10.246 

Muriate of Soda, 10.360 

Sulphate of lime, 0.054 

It was long affirmed that no fish were found in its waters, 
and even that birds fell dead in flying over it. Modern 
travellers have refuted these tales ; for Mr. Maundrell observ- 
ed birds flying over and about it, and found, on the shore, 
shells which had once contained fish. Chateaubriand, hear- 
ing a noise on the lake at midnight, was told by the people 
of Bethlehem, that it proceeded from legions of small fish, 
which come and leap about near the shore. 

The Dead Sea is situated on the east of the land of Canaan, 
between two ridges of mountains ; • of which those on the 
eastern or Arabian side are the highest and most rocky. The 
whole region bears an aspect of the utmost sterility, showing 
not a speck of vegetation, or the habitation of man or beast. 
Every traveller who has visited it represents it as most fright- 
ful and desolate, as if the country which was so signally 
wicked as to require the exterminating hand of God to 
cleanse it, should bear upon it, in all ages, the marks of his 
displeasure. 

Debir, a city taken by Joshua from the Canaanites, and 
afterwards given to the tribe of Judah. See Part L p. 57. 
There was also a city of this name in the tribe of Gad, (Josh. 
M2 



138 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. DIN 

xiii. 26.) and another in Judah or Benjamin not far from 
Jericho. Josh. xv. 7. 

Decapolis, a country so called from its containing 1 ten 
cities, some of which lay within the Holy Land, and others 
without ; partly in Iturea, and partly in Persea. These ten 
cities confederated together, and preserved their indepen- 
dence during the time of the Asmonean princes, who govern- 
ed the Jewish nation from the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, 
king of Syria, to that of Herod. Geographers are not agreed 
in their lists of these cities. The authority of Josephus is 
perhaps the best, and Pliny nearly agrees with him : he gives 
the following, Damascus, Otopos, Philadelphia, Raphana, 
Gadara, Hippos, Dios, Pella, Gerasa, and Scythopolis. This 
country is mentioned in Matt. iv. 25. and Mark v. 20. 

Dedan, Dedanim, the country inhabited by the posterity 
of Dedan, the son of Raamah, and grandson of Cush. See 
Part I. p. 24. 

Dehavites, a people mentioned in Ezra iv. 9. probably the 
same who are said (2 Kings xvii. 24.) to have been brought 
by the king of Assyria from Ava, in that part of Assyria 
watered by the river Diaba. 

Derbe, a city of Lycaonia, in Asia Minor, to which St. 
Paul and Barnabas fled, after being driven from Iconium, 
(Acts xiv. 6.) Gaius, a disciple of St. Paul, and St. John the 
evangelist, also Timothy, were natives of Derbe. It was 
situated 20 miles south of Lystra. 

Diblathaim, or Diblatha, a town on the east of Jordan, 
near Mount Nebo. Numb, xxxiii. 46. Ezek. vi. 14. Jer. 
xlviii. 22. 

Dibon, or Dibon Gad, a city of Moab, east of Jordan, given 
to the tribe of Gad, (Numb, xxxii. 3. 33, 34.) and afterwards 
yielded up to Reuben. (Josh. xiii. 9.) It was one of the 
encampments of the Israelites. Jerom says that it was called 
also Dimon. Eusebius says that in his day it was a large 
town, situated on the banks of the Arnon. There was an- 
other town of this name in the tribe of Judah, which is thought 
to be the same as Debir. 

Dilean, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 38. 

Dimnah, a city of Zebulon, (Josh. xxi. 35.) given to the 
Levites of the family of Merari. 

Dimon, or Dimonak, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 22. Isa. 
xr. 9.) thought to be the same as Dibon. 

Dinabah, a city of Edom. Gen. xxxvi. 32. 1 Chron. i. 43. 



EBA 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



139 



Dinaites, a people who opposed the rebuilding of the tem- 
ple in Jerusalem, after the return of the people from Babylon. 
Ezra iv. 

Dodanim, the descendants of Dodan, the son of Javan, and 
grandson of Japhet ; settled in Asia Minor. See Part L p. 19. 

Dophka, one of the encampments of the Israelites in the 
wilderness. See Part I. p. 44. 

Dor, a city on the Mediterranean in the west of Canaan. 
See Part I. p. 59. 

A medal, with the in- 
scription DOREITON, Of 
Dor; showing that As- 
tarte or Venus was wor- 
shipped here, as the prin- 
ciple of fertility ; as in 
the neighbouring cities 
on this coast. The head 
is of Nero : the goddess 
holds in her right hand 
the staff crossed at the 
top ; in her left, the cornucopia. The date, a a p, 13], refers to the era 
of Pompey, who gave liberty to this town, with many others of Syria, 
in the year of Rome 690: this date is the twelfth of Nero. 

Dothan, a town in Canaan. See Part I. p. 38. 

Dumah, a city in the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 52. 

Dura, a great plain in the neighbourhood of Babylon, 
where the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar was set up to be 
worshipped ; which Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refus- 
ing to do, they were cast into a fiery furnace. Dan. iii. 1, &c 




E. 

Ebal, a mountain in the tribe of Ephraim, near Shechem ; 
opposite mount Gerizim, only the valley of Shechem lying 
between. This mountain was the place from which the 
curses of God were to be proclaimed to the children of Israel 
on their entering the land of Canaan ; and here also was an 
altar of twelve stones erected, for burnt-offerings, and on 
which a copy of the law was written by Joshua. Deut. xxvii. 
Josh. viii. 

The two mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, are similar in length, 
height, and form ; their figure is a semicircle, and they are 



140 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. ECB 

estimated to be about 800 feet high. Modern travellers have 
not found on them any vestiges of buildings.- 

Ebenezer, the stone of help, a place in the north of Judah, 
near Bethshemesh, where Samuel, in remembrance of the de- 
livery of Israel from the Philistines, set up a stone, which he 
called Eben-ezer ; saying, "hitherto the Lord hath helped us." 
1 Sam. vii. 11, 12. 

Ecbatana, or Achmetha, the ancient capital of Media ; said 
to have been built by Dejoces, or Arphaxad, the fourth king 
of Media, after its revolt from Assyria. Next to Nineveh 
and Babylon, this may be considered the strongest and most 
beautiful city of the east in those early times. It is said to 
have been 24 miles in circuit ; and the walls, as described in 
the book of Judith, were 70 cubits high, and 50 broad, Duilt 
of hewn stones 6 cubits long and 3 broad, with towers 100 
cubits high, and gates 70 cubits, and 40 in breadth. Accord- 
ing to Herodotus, within this outer wall there were six others 
rising one above another ; and in the centre of the whole was 
the palace, where Dejoces shut himself up, and made himself 
invisible to his subjects : all the business of state being trans- 
acted through the means of privileged messengers. 

Ecbatana continued to be the residence of the Median kings 
during the reign of Dejoces, Phraortes, Cyaxaras L, Astyages, 
and Cyaxares II., a period of about 170 years. But after the 
union of Media with Persia, under Cyrus and his successors, 
it was only the summer residence of the Persian kings, being 
preferred to Susa, the winter residence, on account of its cool- 
ness, lying further to the north, and being on much higher 
ground. It was visited by Alexander, in his expedition into 
Asia, and it was here that he barbarously murdered his physi- 
cian for the death of Hephestion. The Seleucidse, the suc- 
cessors of Alexander, having fixed the seat of empire further 
to the west, Ecbatana declined, as it continued to do under 
the Parthians. Its history is obscure from the time of the 
Parthians to that of Timour, or Tamerlane, in the 14th cen- 
tury, by whom it was taken and destroyed, and has never 
since been of much consequence. It is at present called Ha- 
madan, and contains about 40,000 inhabitants. It is a mart of 
commerce between Ispahan and Bagdad, and between the lat- 
ter and Teheran. 

Modern travellers describe Ecbatana as abounding in ruins 
of great antiquity, and which fully confirm the accounts of its 
ancient magnificence and extent. Here are yet shown the 



EDE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 141 

tombs of Mordecai and Esther, standing near the centre of the 
modern city, and covered by a dome, on which is the follow- 
ing inscription in Hebrew : " This day, 15th of the month 
Adar, in the year 4474 from the creation of the world, was 
finished the building of this temple over the graves of Mor- 
decai and Esther, by the hands of the good-hearted brothers, 
Elias and Samuel, the sons of the deceased Ismael of Kashan." 
This inscription proves the dome to have been built 1360 years. 
Within this building are two sarcophagi, or coffins, made of 
a very dark coloured wood, evidently of great antiquity, carved 
with much intricacy of pattern and richness of twisted orna- 
ment, with a line of inscription in Hebrew running round the 
upper ledge of each. Many other inscriptions in the same 
language, are cut on the walls ; while one of the most ancient, 
engraved on a slab of white marble, is let into the wall itself. 
This inscription is as follows : " Mordecai, beloved and honour- 
ed by a king, was great and good. His garments were as 
those of a sovereign. Ahasuerus covered him with this rich 
dress, and also placed a golden chain around his neck. The 
city of Susa rejoiced at his honours, and his high fortune 
became the glory of the Jews." The inscriptions on the cof- 
fins of Mordecai and Esther contain their names, and several 
pious sentences, expressive of their trust in God ; with some 
references to particular incidents in their lives. The key of 
these tombs is always kept by the head person of the Jews 
resident in Hamadan ; and on the day of the feast of Purim, 
which is kept on the 13th and 14th of the month Adar, to 
commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from the general 
massacre ordered by Ahasuerus ; Jewish pilgrims resort 
from all quarters to the tombs of Mordecai and Esther, by 
whose intercession they were rescued. This custom has ex- 
isted for centuries, and is a strong presumptive proof that the 
tradition of their burial at this place rests on some authentic 
foundation. 

Eden, the country in which the garden was situated, which 
was the first abode of Adam and Eve after the creation. In 
addition to what has been said on this subject in Part I. we 
may observe, that whatever difference of opinion may exist 
with regard to the exact position of the garden^ we think 
there can be little difficulty in deciding upon the country of 
Eden. The sacred historian says, "God planted a garden 
eastward in Eden ;" which term eastward will apply to any 
of the countries on the Euphrates, from Armenia to Babylo- 



142 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



EGY 



ilia ; and as nothing more is said of it in this place, we must 
endeavour to discover its position from what is said in other 
passages where the word Eden occurs. Eden is mentioned 
in 2 Kings xix. 12. in conjunction with Gozan, Haran, and 
Rezeph ; the situation of which is well known, and may fur- 
nish a key to the other. Gozan was in Media ; and Rezeph 
or Rezipha, and Haran, in Mesopotamia ; and it seems quite 
plain that in this passage, Sennacherib was describing his con- 
quests on the eastern and northern borders of his kingdom, 
from Media to the Upper Euphrates. In Ezekiel xxvii. Eden 
is again mentioned in conjunction with Haran, together with 
Canneh, Sheba, Ashur, and Chilmad. Canneh was in Me- 
sopotamia ; Sheba and Chilmad are obscure ; but Ashur still 
confines us to the upper part of the Euphrates or Tigris. It 
is quite sufficient that from all this we can determine, that 
the only country of Eden mentioned in Scripture, to which 
the term eastward can be applied with respect to Canaan or 
its vicinity, where Moses wrote, was not in Babylonia, but 
somewhere in Media, Armenia, or Mesopotamia. 

Eden, a valley in Syria, between the mountains of Libanus 
and Anti-Libanus, not far from Damascus. This place is re- 
ferred to in Amos i. 5. Huetius observes, that this valley de- 
served the name of Eden, or rather Beth Eden, the house of 
pleasure, by reason of its fertility and pleasantness. 

Edom, the country possessed by the descendants of Esau. 
See Part L p. 36. 

Edrei, a city east of Jordan, belonging to the tribe of Man- 
asseh. (Josh. xiii. 31.) This city, and Ashtaroth, were the 
two capitals of the kingdom of Bashan. There was also a 
city of this name in the tribe of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 37. 

Eglaim, (Josh. xv. 39.) or Gallim, (1 Sam. xxv. 44.) a city 
in the Land of Moab, east of the Dead Sea. 

Eglon, a city taken by Joshua. See Part. I. p. 57. 

Egypt, a country in the north of Africa ; bounded north by 
the Mediterranean sea ; east by the Red Sea and the Isthmus 
of Suez; south by Ethiopia; and west by Libya; being about 
700 miles in length and 250 in breadth. This country is 
called in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Land of Misraim, and 
the Land of Ham ; by the Turks and Arabs at the present 
day, Masr, and Misr ; and by the native Egyptians, Chemi, or 
the Land of Ham. The name Egypt is supposed to be de- 
rived from the Greek word aia, signifying a land or country 
and koptos, the name of a city in Egypt ; which was softened 



EGY DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 143 

by the Greeks into aiguptos, from which the Latins made 
iEgyptus. Faber derives the name from ai-capht, or the land 
of the Caphtorim, from which also the modern Egyptians de- 
rive their name of Cophts. Others suppose the name to have 
been originally, ai-gupt, the ]and of the vulture, or hawk, 
which was the national emblem of Egypt, and considered as 
its tutelary divinity. 

This country was first peopled after the deluge by Misraim, 
or Misr, the son of Ham ; who is supposed to be the same as 
Menes, recorded in the Egyptian history as the first king. 
The subsequent history and condition of the country, for 
many ages, is involved in fable ; but from the most authentic 
accounts, it appears that it was governed by its own princes, 
for about 100 years from the time of Misraim, when it was 
subdued by the shepherds or Cushite«, who invaded it from 
Arabia or Chaldea; and after ruling it for many years, w T ere 
expelled by Amosis. The historian Manetho, as cited by Jo- 
sephus, speaks of this invasion of the shepherds, who, he says, 
were called Hyc-sos, that is, shepherd kings ; and makes their 
residence in Egypt to amount to 511 years. 

It was during the reign of one of the kings of the shepherd 
race, called Pharaoh in Scripture, as were all the Egyptian 
kings, that Abraham went into Egypt with his wife Sarah, 
being driven out of the Land of Canaan by famine. About 
190 years after this, and very soon after the expulsion of the 
shepherds, Joseph was brought into Egypt as a slave by the 
Ishmaelites, to whom his brethren had sold him ; and the prin- 
cipal events recorded of his life, are handed down by tradi- 
tions yet existing in the country. After he had risen from 
this humble station, to that of governor of Egypt, Jacob, his 
father, with all his family, amounting to 70 persons, came into 
Egypt at his invitation, that they might spend the remaining 
five of the seven years of famine in plenty. They had a se- 
parate residence assigned them in the east of Egypt, not being 
permitted to reside with the people of the country, " every 
shepherd being an abomination to the Egyptians." The reason 
of this dislike probably arose from their long subjection to the 
shepherd kings before mentioned, whose principal residence 
was in this pastoral district of Goshen ; or at least they were 
concentrated here, previous to their final expulsion from the 
country. 

In this fertile land the Israelites " increased abundantly, 
and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty ; and the land 



144 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



EGY 



was filled with them." They had been well treated, and en- 
joyed their own territory, and their own religion, and fed their 
own flocks in peace. 

But after this there came a new king "who knew not 
Joseph," and by whom the children of Israel were reduced to 
a state of bitter bondage, afflicting them with burdens, and 
setting over them task-masters, &c. This " new king" was 
probably the first of a new dynasty of Philitim, or eastern 
shepherds, who, according to Manetho, invaded Egypt a 
second time, and held it till they were finally expelled, about 
the time that the Israelites quitted Egypt ; the last king of the 
race being that Pharaoh who was drowned in the Red Sea 
with all his army. It is highly probable that the native 
Egyptians seized this occasion, when the government of their 
oppressor was weakened by the destruction of the king and 
his army, to expel the tyrannical invaders from their country 
a second time. 

The successor of this Pharaoh was the celebrated Sesostris, 
one of the most famous conquerors of antiquity, who carried 
his arms over a great part of Asia, and even penetrated into 
Europe, which no eastern monarch had done before. Nothing 
of consequence, as connected with Scripture history, occurs 
after this, (except the marriage of Solomon with the daughter 
of one of the Pharaohs,) for the space of about 470 years, 
when Shishak invaded Judea with an immense army of 
Egyptians and other African nations. (2 Chron. xii.) In the 
reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, about 724 before Christ, 
Sebachon the Ethiopian conquered Egypt, and united the 
two countries under one prince. This is the king called in 
Scripture, So ; with whom Hoshea entered into alliance in 
order to shake ofT the Assyrian yoke. (2 Kings xvii. 4.) In 
the reign of Sevechus, the son of Sebachon or So, Senna- 
cherib, king of Assyria, invaded Egypt and ravaged the coun- 
try, destroying the city of No, as mentioned by the prophet 
Nahum. Not long after this we find Pharaoh Necho, who 
was the son and successor of Psammeticus, invading the do- 
minions of the eastern princes, and fatally vanquishing Josiah 
king of Judah, at Megiddo. (2 Chron. xxxv. 21.) This prince 
extended his conquests to the Euphrates, but was overcome 
by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and driven back to his own fron- 
tier, after which, says the Scripture, " the king of Egypt came 
not again any more out of his land." (2 Kings xxiv. 7.) This 
seems to have terminated the power of Egypt, which never 



i 



EGY DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 145 

afterwards appeared as a conquering, and not long as an in- 
dependent country. 

In the year 525 before Christ, Egypt was invaded by the 
Persians, under Cyrus; by whom it was held until conquered 
by Alexander the Great, B. C. 332 ; who built Alexandria, 
and conferred many favours on the country, by which it was 
much improved. 

On the death of Alexander, Ptolemy governed Egypt as a 
province, and at last assumed the title of king. His descend- 
ants occupied the throne for 294 years, until Egypt became a 
Roman province, after the death of Cleopatra. During the 
dynasty of the Ptolemies, this country again enjoyed some- 
thing of its former renown for learning and power. The first 
of the race, Ptolemy Soter, was just, prudent, and merciful — 
rare qualities in eastern princes in those days. During his 
long reign of 40 years, he did much for Egypt, especially for 
the capital, Alexandria ; where he founded a college for the 
study of philosophy and the sciences ; and made the first col- 
lections towards the library, which afterwards became so 
famous for its magnificence and for its unfortunate fate. The 
second Ptolemy, surnamed Philadelphus, pursued the mea- 
sures of his father for the improvement of learning and com- 
merce. He made such additions to the library, that at the 
time of his death it amounted to 100,000 volumes ; amongst 
which was the Holy Scriptures of the Jews ; and it was he 
who caused the Greek version of the Scriptures to be made 
at Alexandria, which goes by the name of the Septuagint, 
from the LXX. persons employed in the translation. The 
third of the Ptolemies was Euergetes, who, like his predeces- 
sors, was a friend and supporter of learning ; but after him 
the race degenerated, and that ray of light and liberty which 
had dawned upon Egypt was extinguished; his successors 
being generally cruel and vicious. Cleopatra was the last of 
the race, and at her death Egypt was made a Roman province 
by Caesar Octavianus, 30 years before Christ It was under 
the Roman government when visited by Joseph and Mary, 
with the infant Jesus ; and continued annexed to that empire 
for about 470 years ; when, in the reign of the emperor Hera- 
clius, it was conquered by the Arabs under Amrou, the gene- 
ral of the Saracen Caliph, Omar. The Saracens retained it 
under subjection till the year A. D. 1250, when the Mame- 
lukes or foreign guards, deposed the sultan, overthrew the 
government, and appointed a sultan of their own. This form 

N 



146 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



EGY 



of government continued till the year 1517, when the Mame- 
lukes were reduced by the Turks, and Egypt was annexed 
to the Ottoman empire. It was governed by a succession of 
pachas, and gradually declined in the scale of prosperity and 
power. The invasion and temporary occupation of Egypt by 
Napoleon Bonaparte, must be familiar to every reader; as 
must likewise be those more recent events which have re- 
vived in a degree the importance of Egypt, and which, under 
the vigorous government of her present ruler, have effected 
her virtual independence of Turkey. 

Egypt appears to have been, at a very early period, the seat 
of science and learning ; as we read in Scripture that Moses 
" was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians ;" and it is 
remarkable that our first acquaintance with this people intro- 
duces us to them as a people already arrived, comparatively, 
at a high degree of excellence in every branch of useful ami 
refined knowledge. Astronomy, agriculture, medicine, juris- 
prudence, architecture, geometry, painting, and sculpture, 
with many useful and ornamental manufactures, were carried 
to a degree of perfection in which, for many centuries at 
least, they must have remained unequalled by the other na- 
tions of the earth. The Chaldeans were their early rivals in 
the sciences, and the Sidonians and Tyrians, in the arts, man- 
ufactures, and commerce. 

This country was also fortunate in its geographical position, 
which, forming the centre of communication between the east 
and the west, gave it a more extended intercourse with the 
known parts of the earth. It was much favoured by the share 
which it enjoyed of the trade with the east ; the products 
of which, firpt arriving at the Assyrian or Chaldean capitals, 
were from thence conveyed to Egypt by the Cushite, and 
afterwards by the Midianite and Ishmaelite traders, who, 
like their descendants, the Arabs of the present day, with 
their caraviU3 of horses and camels, were the common carri- 
ers of alJ that part of the world. To a party of these travel 
ling merchants was Joseph sold ; and of the same people Isai- 
ah speakf as the " travelling companies of Dedanim," (chap, 
xxi.) descendants of Dedan, the grandson of Cush, or of De- 
dan, the son of Jokshan, the brother of Midian. But perhaps 
a still greater cause of the wealth and prosperity of Egypt, 
was the astonishing fertility of its soil, which was such as to 
afford immense supplies to the neighbouring countries, parti- 
cularly Syria and Arabia; and in times of famine, which 



EGY DICTIONARY OF THB BIBLE. 147 

were frequent in those countries, Egypt alone could support 
their numerous population from perishing with hunger. We 
have an affecting example of this in the story of the children 
of Jacob. For this extraordinary and unceasing fertility, 
Egypt, otherwise one of the driest and most barren countries 
in the world, was indebted to its river, the Nile, whose peri- 
odical inundation gave to the soil which it watered, that won- 
derful fertility which enabled it to support a population many 
times greater than its own, numerous as it must have been ; 
since the children of Israel, who occupied but a corner of the 
land, amounted, at the time of their leaving Egypt, to 600,000 
grown-up men ; from which the whole number of Israelites 
alone cannot be estimated at less than two millions. The 
extraordinary fertility of the soil is alluded to in Gen. xli. 47. 
** The earth brought forth by handfuls." Modern travellers 
have found sixteen and eighteen stalks of wheat springing up 
from a single grain of seed. But the great reservoirs of 
water, or artificial lakes, which once were employed for 
watering the fields, as the Moeris, Bahira, and Mareotis, were, 
under the misrule of Turkey, suffered to be materially impair- 
ed : and of 80 canals used for watering the country, several of 
which were 60, 90, and 120 miles long, all, excepting six, are 
nearly filled up. 

As Egypt was the parent of the sciences, so it was of that 
system of polytheism and idolatry which afterwards spread 
over the nations. This was probably introduced first by the 
Cushite invaders of the country, or possibly by Misraim him- 
self. The worship of the heavenly luminaries seems to have 
been the first species of worship after the departure of man- 
kind from the true God, and seems to have had its origin with 
the Cushite builders of the tower of Babel. Their sacred 
hills and high towers gave them a greater view of the hea- 
vens, and brought them, as they thought, into a nearer com- 
munication with their starry deities. On these elevations 
sacrifices were offered, which they deemed the more accept- 
able in proportion to the loftiness of the altar. This was the 
origin of all the " high places" of the heathen world, so fre- 
quently mentioned in Scripture ; of the first tower of Babel, 
of that of Bel us at Babylon, of the Indian pagoda, of the Egyp- 
tian pyramid, of the great altar or pyramid of the Mexicans, 
and of the Morai of Otaheite. The next descent was to that 
of idolatry, or the adoration of visible representations of the 
heavenly bodies, to which the names Baal, Adar, Nebo, Gad, 







148 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



EGY 



Ashtaroth, &c. were given. The next step was the canoni- 
zation and worship of hero-gods, and deified mortals, whose 
bodies the Egyptian priests affirmed that they had in their 
possession, embalmed and deposited in their sepulchres; such 
as Chronus, Rhea, Osiris, Isis, &c. Besides these were eight 
others, whom the Egyptians called demi-gods, to whom Die- 
dorus gives the names of Sol, Saturnus, Rhea, Jupiter, Juno, 
Vulcan us, Vesta, and Mercurius ; which in fact are only 
other names for the hero-gods; and who are said to have 
reigned in Egypt before Menes or Misraim. This system of 
false theology was received from the Egyptians by the Greeks, 
and from them communicated to the Romans. 

The wonder of Egypt, the pyramids, are situated on a 
rocky plain, about three miles from the village of Gizeh, on 
the western side of the Nile, and four miles south-west of 
Cairo. They are called by the Arabs Dgebel Pharaon, and 
by the Turks Pharaen Doglary, that is, Pharaoh's moun- 
tains. Three of them are larger than the others, and may be 
seen from Cairo, and a great distance beyond it. Of these 
three pyramids, two are closed ; but the largest is open, and 
is that which travellers ascend and enter into. There are 
several smaller ones in the neighbourhood, which have been 
opened, and are almost entirely ruined ; but there are four 
yet remaining which deserve the greatest attention. These 
four stand nearly in a direct line, and are about 400 paces 
distant from one another. Their four faces correspond pre- 
cisely to the four points of the compass, north, south, east, 
and west. The two most northerly are the largest, being 
about 500 feet in perpendicular height, and 700 on each side 
at the base. The external part is chiefly built of great square 
stones, cut from the rocks along the Nile, and the quarries 
from which they have been taken are still visible. The 
opening or entrance to the first pyramid is on the north side, 
and leads successively to five different passages, which, 
though running upwards, and downwards, and horizontally 
all tend towards the south, and terminate in two chambers, 
the one underneath, and the other in the midst of the pyramid. 
In one of these chambers is a sarcophagus of granite, six feet 
long, three wide, and four deep, formed of a single stone, 
without any ornament, and smoothly hollowed out. Near 
this is a deep hole or well, which appears to lead to some 
cavity underneath, which has not been explored. About 



BGY 



DICTIONARY OP THE BIBLE. 



149 




■ 




V 






150 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



EGY 



three hundred paces east of the second pyramid, stands the 
head of the famous sphinx, carved out of the solid rock, 
twenty-six feet high, and twelve in circumference round the 
nead. In the neighbourhood of these pyramids are many 
others of different sizes, built of large bricks made of clay 
mixed with chopped straw, and hardened by the heat of the 
tun. One of these is little inferior in size to the largest men- 
tioned above, but they are more damaged, and probably more 
ancient. They do not appear to have been so neatly finisheu 
or so well contrived as the others. 

There are many splendid and magnificent ruins scattered 
over this country, which give proof of the high cultivation 
enjoyed by the ancient inhabitants. The art of embalming 
dead bodies, in which the ancient Egyptians excelled, is now 
unknown. The mummy pits or caverns contain the genera- 
tions which are gone, and some of these embalmed bodies are 
perfectly preserved, though they have been dead three 
thousand years. 

The southern or upper part of Egypt is extremely rocky 
and arid ; but lower down it becomes more level and produc- 
tive ; and where the Nile divides into several streams, it 
embraces that part of Egypt which was called by the Greeks 
the Delta, from a fancied resemblance to the letter A. This 
is a vast plain, fertilized by the Nile, containing numerous 
villages, and yielding abundance of grain and other produc- 
tions. 

The present inhabitants of Egypt may be distinguished into 
three classes : 1. The Cophts or Copts, descendants of the 
ancient Egyptians, who have lived for more than two thou- 
sand years under the dominion of different foreign conquerors, 
and who have experienced many changes of fortune. They 
have lost their manners, language, and religion ; and are re- 
duced to a small number, compared with the Arabs, who have 
poured like a flood over the country. 2. The Fellahs, or hus- 
bandmen, who are possibly the people called in Scripture 
Phul. This class suffers much oppression, being despised 
by both Arabs and Turks; they seldom acquire property, 
and if they do, they are not suffered to enjoy it. 3. The 
Arab conquerors of the country, including Turks, Mame- 
lukes, &c. Previously to the recent changes in the political 
condition of Egypt, the Turks were in possession of most of 
the offices under the government ; but the policy of the pre- 



EGY 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



15) 



sent ruler of Egypt tends to the encouragement and promo- 
tion of any other Europeans rather than Turks. A great 
many Frenchmen, in particular, have been patronized by th* 
present pacha ; and he does not hesitate to avail himself o** 
their services both in the civil and military departments o r ' 
ws government. 

This is an extremely curi- 
tus medal, of silver, struck 
j Egypt before the reigns 
©f the Ptolemies. It repre- 
sents on one side a man on 
horseback, and on the other 
an ox of the humped kind 
Jying down: between his 
horns is the lunar crescent, 
and within that is a globe. 
These symbols clearly refer 
tins ox to Egypt, The man on horseback is the most singular part of 
this medal ; none of the countries adjacent having adopted the type of 
a horseman. There is every reason to believe that the letters on this 
medal are Persian, and that the person represented is Aryandes, 
governor of Egypt under Darius, the last king of Persia, who then pos- 
sessed this country, and who caused the governor to be put to death fur 
coining money in his own name. 





These medals represent the figure or divinity of the river Nile, seated 
n the hippopotamus and the crocodile, both of which were character- 
istic symbols of Egypt. The crocodile was adopted as an emblem of 
the country, and there is no other river known to antiquity to which 
the hippopotamus can be referred. To show the rider seated equally 
on each, proves an equal adoption of both : and as the crocodile is uni 
versally allowed to be the leviathan, we may suppose the hippopotamus 
w the behemoth, of the book of Job. 



152 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



EKR 



No. 4. 





The inscription on this medal, zeus serapis, points at the original 
divinity of Jupiter; the measure on the head of Serapis is probably the 
cup, which certain figures hold in their hands, transferred to the head 
Before this figure is a Sphinx. Another medal resembling this, in- 
scribed, helios serapis, proves that Serapis was the sun. The head 
on this medal is Vespasian. 

This medal is of gold. The head is one 
of the Lagidse, kings of Egypt : the reverse 
is a reaper cutting corn. The type of the 
reaper is uncommon, and is only found on 
another medal of brass, struck also in Egypt ; 
the fertility of which country is alluded to. 
But this type is peculiarly interesting to us, 
when we observe that the ears of corn which 
mark this fertility are seven in number ; thus seeming to refer to the 
dream of Pharaoh, and the interpretation of it by Joseph. 

Egypt, River of: See Part I. p. 32. 

Ekron, the most northern of the five lordships or govern- 
ments of the Philistines. In the division of the country by 
Joshua, this city fell to the lot of Judah, (Josh. xv. 45.) but 
was afterwards given to Dan ; though it does not appear that 
the Israelites were ever in peaceable possession of it. It was 
a strong city, and was situated very near the Mediterranean, 
between Ashdod and Jamnia ; but all vestiges of it have been 
extinct for many centuries. Zephaniah prophesied that 
44 Ekron should be rooted up," (chap. ii. 4.) This city was 
celebrated for the worship of Baal-zebub, or the god of flies ^ 
as the name imports. He seems to have been their Escula- 
pius, or god of medicine, as he was consulted by Ahaziah, 
king of Israel, concerning his health. (2 Kings i. 2.) Ekron 
was called Accaron by the Greeks, and was then a consider- 
able town. 



EMI DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 153 

Elah, the name of the valley where the Israelites were 
encamped when David fought Goliah. This valley, still un- 
altered in appearance, is situated three miles from Bethlehem, 
on the road to Jaffa ; and many a pilgrim, journeying from 
Jaffa to Jerusalem, has stopped to drink of its venerable brook. 

Elam, the original country of the Persians, whence they 
spread over Persia, or Phars, and Susiana. Chedorlaomer, of 
whom we read in Gen. xiv. was of this country. Eiam de- 
rives its name from Elam, the son of Shem, and is used in 
Scripture to denote the kingdom of Persia, before the time of 
Cyrus and the prophet Daniel ; after which it is generally 
called by its Greek name of Persia. See Persia. 

Elath, or Eloth, a port of Edom on the eastern branch of 
the Red Sea. See Part I. p. 47. 

Elealeh, a town belonging to the tribe of Reuben. (Numb, 
xxxii. 37.) According to Eusebius it was si tuated near Hesh- 
bon ; and the traveller Burckhardt found its ruins, yet called 
El-aal, on the summit of a hill, about two miles north-east of 
Heshbon. 

Eleutherus, a river in Syria, the source of which lies be- 
tween the mountains Libanus and Anti-Libanus. (1 Mace. xi. 
7.) It flowed through this valley, and emptied into the Medi- 
terranean. 

Elim, one of the encampments of Israel in the wilderness. 
See Part I. p. 44. 

Elisha, Isles of: See Part I. p. 18. 

Ellasar, a country of which Arioch was king, and who is 
mentioned in conjunction with the kings of Shinar and Elam. 
(Gen. xiv. 1.) It would appear from this, that Ellasar must 
refer to some adjoining region, and it is probable that it was 
Assyria, or El-asur : then a petty state, compared with the 
subsequent empire of that name. 

Elon, a city in the tribe of Dan, and another in the tribe 
of Naphtali. 

Eltekeh, a city of Dan, given to the Levites. 

Eltekon, a town in Judah, on the border of Benjamin. 

Eltolad, a city in the tribe of Judah, afterwards given to 
Simeon. 

Elymais, the capital of Elam, the ancient Persia. 1 Mace. 

/LI- 

Emims, a gigantic people, inhabiting the country east and 
south-east of the Dead Sea ; whence they were either ex- 
pelled by the Moabites, or incorporated with them. (Deut. ii. 






154 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY, 



ENH 



10.) The origin of this people is not clearly known, but they 
probably descended from Ham. 

Emmaus, a village about eight miles north-east of Jerusa- 
lem, celebrated for the appearance of our Lord, after his re- 
surrection, to two of the disciples. (Luke xxiv. 13.) There 
was another place of this name at the hot-baths near Tiberias, 
called by the Greeks Ammaus, by the Hebrews Chammath, 
and by the modern Arabs, Hamman. 

Enam, a city in the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 34. 

Endor, a city belonging to the tribe of Manasseh, west of 
Jordan, (Josh. xvii. 11.) where Saul went to consult a woman 
who had a familiar spirit. (1 Sam. xxviii. 13.) This place 
was four miles south of Mount Tabor. 

En-eglaim, a place near En-gedi. (Ezek. xlvii. 10.) Jerom 
says it was near the place where the river Jordan empties into 
the Dead Sea. 

En-gannim, the name of two cities : one belonging to the 
tribe of Judah, (Josh. xv. 34.) the other to Issaehar, given to 
the Levites of Gershon's family. Josh. xxi. 29. 

En-gedi, otherwise called Hazezon-tamar> a city in the tribe 
of Judah, situated in a hilly country about 30 miles south-east 
of Jerusalem, and not far from the Dead Sea. To the u strong 
holds" in the neighbourhood of this pkce, David retired to 
secure himself from the presence of Saul ; and in a cave at 
this place he gave that jealous king a proof of his loyalty, when 
he had him so completely in his power as to cut off a part of 
his garment, but did him no further injury. (1 Sam. xxiv.) 
This cave was so large as to contain in its recesses the whole 
of David's men, 600 in number, unperceived by Saul when he 
entered. Many such caves exist in the Holy Land, which, 
being mountainous and rocky, abounds with caverns in differ- 
ent parts. Josephus tells us of a numerous gang of banditti, 
who, having infested the country, were pursued by the army 
of Herod, and retired into certain caverns in Galilee, almost 
inaccessible, where with great difficulty they were subdued. 
Into such caves the Israelites frequently retired for shelter 
from their enemies, (Judges vi. 2. 1 Sam. xiii, 6. and xiv. 11.) 
a circumstance which has afforded a line image of terror and 
consternation to the prophets. Isa. ii. 19. Hosea x. 8. Rev. 
vi. 15, 16. 

En-haddah, a city belonging to the tribe of Issaehar. Josk 
xix. 21. 



EPH DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 155 

En-hakkore, the well of him who cried ; the name of th« 
well which was miraculously opened to allay the thirst of 
Sampson, after he had slain a thousand Philistines with the 
jaw-bone of an ass. Judges xv. 19. 

En-hazor, a city of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 37. 

En-mishpat, See Kadesh. 

Enoch, the first city of which we read in Scripture, buifc 
by Cain probably not far from Eden ; but its situation is no* 
known. 

Enon, the place where John baptized, " because there was 
much water there." (John iii. 23.) It was between Salim and 
Jordan, in the tribe of Manasseh, 53 miles-north-east from 
Jerusalem. 

En-rogel, another name for the fountain of Siloam, on the 
east of Jerusalem, at the foot of Mount Zion. It was on the 
border of Judah and Benjamin, and in the king's garden. 2 
Sam. xvii. 17. 

Ephesus, a celebrated city of Ionia, in Asia Minor, situ- 
ated upon the river Cayster, about five miles from its mouth, 
and 45 south of Smyrna. It was famous for a magnificent 
temple of Diana : the most noted and frequented of all the 
temples of that goddess, and reputed one of the seven won- 
ders of the world. It was said to have been 425 feet long, 
200 wide, and supported by 127 colunms 60 feet high. This 
temple was set on fire on the night in which Alexander was 
born, by a man named Erostratus, in order to render his name 
immortal ; but it was rebuilt with all its former magnificence. 

St. Paul's preaching here created considerable alarm to the 
Ephesians, who were chiefly supported by the worship of this 
temple ; knowing that with the fall of Paganism their city 
would suffer. This has come to pass : Ephesus and its tem- 
ple have sunk together. The city is now a miserable Turkish 
village, and the ruins of the temple are scarcely found : the 
city is prostrate, and the goddess is gone. 

Ephesus, in the apostolic age, was the capital of the pro- 
consular Asia ; which included all the western parts of Asia 
Minor. The city is now called by the Turks, Aiasoluc : the 
church of St. John still remains, and is converted into a 
Turkish mosque. Christianity was first planted in this city 
by St. Paul, who visited it on his first departure from Corinth, 
about A. D. 54. Here he taught during three years of his 
important life; and raised a church, which maintained its 



156 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



EPH 



faith in the midst of one of the most idolatrous cities of an 
idolatrous age. It stands at the head of the seven churches 
of Asia ; the pastors of which are called angels in the book 
of Revelations : and to it there is a remarkable address. (Rev. 
ii. 2-6.) But notwithstanding this divine approval, and the 
triumphant state of the church of Ephesus, it neglected the 
warning given, gradually fell from its high estate, and the 
judgment threatened fell upon it: its candlestick was re- 
moved out of its place, and to the pure worship of God, suc- 
ceeded the blasphemies of the false prophet. This place, 
where once Christianity flourished, a mother church, and the 
see of a metropolitan bishop, cannot now show one family of 
Christians. 







No. 1. A representation of the marine Venus, the goddess of lavoura- 
ble voyages, to which Ephesus, as a commercial city, might well pay 
attention. The action of this figure resembles that of the Isis of 
Egypt, whom we sometimes see spreading her veil for the sail of a ship. 
The inscription, ephesion g. neokoron, implies that Ephesus was for 
the third time Neokoron, or conservator of the sacred implements, cere 
monies, festivals, &c. 



EPH 



No. 2. A medal of Ephesus, re- 
presenting on one side the head 
of Minerva ; on the other, the 
figure of the river Cayster, on 
which Ephesus was situated. 



' OF THE BIBLE. 


157 


No. 2. 


i 






f™iJi 


■HI/ i 





No. a 




No. 3. This medal represents the image of Diana, standing in her 
famous temple : and may give a good idea of the craft of Demetrius, 
Acts xix. 34.) who was a maker of silver models of the temple, wfth 
images of the goddess ; and probably of other emblems attendant on her 
worship. Inscription, Ephesion. 

Ephes-dammim, a place between Shocoh and Azekah, on 
the west of the valley of Elah ; where the army of the Phi- 
listines was encamped, when Goliah insulted the host of 
Israel. 1 Sam. xvii. 1. 

Ephraim, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part I. 
p. 65. 

O 







158 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



EUP 



Ephraim, a city on the border, between this tribe and Ben- 
jamin ; eight miles north from Jerusalem, and not far from 
Bethel. This is thought by some to have been the place to 
tvhich Jesus retired with his disciples. John xi. 54. 

The Wood of Ephraim, in which Absalom's army was 
routed, and himself killed and buried, (2 Sam. xviii. 6, &c.) 
was on the east of Jordan, which Absalom and David had both 
passed over, (chap. xvii. 24.) ; and consequently could not be 
any wood in the tribe of Ephraim ; but some forest east of 
Jordan, so named on some other account ; possibly as lying 
opposite the tribe of Ephraim. 

Ephratah, another name for Bethlehem. 

Ephron, a city beyond Jordan, taken and destroyed by Ju- 
das Maccabeus. 1 Mace. v. 46. 

Epiphania, a city of Syria, probably the same as Hamath. 
It stood on the Orontes, between Antioch and Apamea. 

Epirus, a province of Greece, having Macedonia on the 
north, Thessaly east, and the Ionian Sea south-west. 

Erech, a city built by Nimrod. See Part J. p. 14. 

Esdraelon, a more modern name for the valley or plain of 
Jezreel in the tribe of Issachar. 

Eshcol, a fertile valley in the south of Canaan ; from which 
the Hebrew spies carried a bunch of grapes, as a specimen of 
the fruit of the land. Numb. xiii. 23. 

Eshtaol, a town of Judah, given afterwards to the tribe of 
Dan. 

Eshtemoa, or Eshtemoth, a city in the south ofrthe tribe 
of Judah, given to the Levites. Josh. xv. 50. xxi. 14. 1 Sam. 
xxx. 28. 

Etam, a city in the tribe of Judah, between Bethlehem and 
Tekoah. (2 Chron. xi. 6.) To the rock of Etam, Samson re- 
tired after having burned the harvest of the Philistines. ( Judg. 
xv. 8.) From a noted spring near this place, water was brought 
by an aqueduct to Jerusalem. 

Etham, one of the encampments of the Israelites in the 
wilderness. See Part I. p. 42. 

Ether, a city of Judah, afterwards given to Simeon. Josh, 
xix. 7. 

Ethiopia, See Cush. 

Euphrates ; the Hebrew name of this river is Phrath, or 
Perath ; the Eu prefixed is a Greek particle implying excel- 
lence. It is written Euphrates in the New Testament ; but 
in the Old, it is Perath. 






EZI DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 159 

The Euphrates is a famous river of Asia, the source of 
which is in the mountains of Armenia. It runs through the 
frontier of Cappadocia, Syria, and Arabia Deserta on the west ; 
and Mesopotamia on the east ; and passing through Chaldea, 
or Babylonia, empties into the Persian Gulf. At the present 
time it discharges its waters into that gulf through a channel, 
which is common to it and the Tigris, with which it unites 
about 60 miles from the gulf; but formerly it had a particular 
channel of its own, of which Pliny says that in his time the 
traces were yet to be seen. 

This is a river of consequence in Scripture geography, 
being the boundary which separated Padan Aram from 
Syria, and the utmost limit, on the eastward, of the kingdom 
of the Israelites. (Deut. i. 7. Josh. i. 4.) It was, indeed, only 
occasionally that the dominion of this people extended thus 
far ; but it appears that even Egypt, under Pharaoh Necho, 
made conquests to the banks of this river. The general course 
of the Euphrates is south-east; though in the upper part, in 
Armenia, it runs westerly, and approaches the Mediterranean 
Sea, near Cilicia. The general course of the Tigris is nearly 
the same ; and the country included between them was called 
in Hebrew, Aram Naharaim, i. e. Syria of the rivers ; and in 
Greek, Mesopotamia; between the rivers. The Euphrates 
receives several streams in its course, as the Murad, the Rou- 
ha, the .Khabour or Chaboras, and others. At length it joins 
the Tigris, and the united waters of these rivers form a kind 
of sea, in which there are many islands. All their branches 
being combined at Korna, they pass together to Basra, from 
whence they fall into the Persian Guff. There are many 
towns on its banks, and much fruitful land in different places. 
In genera], its banks are rather level than mountainous. It is 
generally about 500 feet broad ; but when the snows melt 
upon the mountains of Armenia, it overflows its banks like 
the Nile, and becomes broad and deep. This was one of the 
rivers, the source of which was in Eden. See Part I. p. 10. 

Ezion-gaeer, a city and port of Idumea, or Arabia Deserta, 
on the eastern arm of the Red Sea. (Numb, xxxiii. 35. 1 Kings 
ix. 26.) Near the mouth of this harbour was a reef of rocks 
upon which the fleet of ships was lost, which had been fitted 
out for Ophir, by Jehoshaphat and Ahazia, kings of Judah ard 
Israel. (1 Kings xxii. 48. 2 Chron. xx. 36.) From these rocks 
the place took its name, Ezion-gaber, i. e. the back-bone of 
a great man ; which this ledge of rocks resembles in shape. 








160 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



F. 



GAD 



Fair-haven, a port in the island of Crete, passed by St. 
Paul. (Acts xxvii. 8.) A town is mentioned by Jerom and 
others, as situated here. 



G. 

Gaash, a hill in the tribe of Ephraim. See Part I. p. 62. 
The brook of Gaash, (2 Sam. xxiii. 30.) was probably near, 
or at the foot of this hill. 

Gaba, a city of Benjamin, assigned to the Levites. Josh, 
xviii. 24. 

Gad, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part I. p. 67 

Gad, a river, thought to be the same as the Arnon. 

Gadara, according to Josephus, was the capital of Perea, 
and situated about 7 miles east from the sea of Galilee or Ti- 
berias. It gave name to a district of country, as we read that 
our Saviour having passed the see of Tiberias, came into the 
country of the Gadarenes. (Mark v. i. Luke viii. 26.) St. Mat- 
thew (viii. 28.) calls it the country of the Gergesenes ; but as 
the city of Gergesa was near Gadara, it is probable that their 
territories were adjoining, or included, one within the other ; 
therefore some of the evangelists might call it by one name, 
and some by the other. 

There was another place called Gadara, situated in the west 
of the land of Canaan, on the Mediterranean, probably not far 
from Ashdod or Azotus, and called Gedor, Gezer or Gederah, 
in the Old Testament, and Gazara in Mace. xiv. 34. To this 
Gadara the following medal probably belongs. 




GAL dictionary of the bible. 161 

This medal represents on one side the head of Marcus Aurelius An- 
toninus, inscribed with his name ; on the reverse a galley with many 
oars, and on the prow a standard with flags flying ; the captain sits at 
ihe helm, directing the course of the vessel. Inscription, Gadareon, 
of Gadara ; w 7 ith the word nauma, for naumachia, w r hich signifies a 
naval combat, or at least a spectacle representing a sea-fight. It is dif- 
ficult to conceive how the Gadara of Perea, east of the sea of Galilee, 
which was situated on a mountain, and which had no navigable water 
near it, should be able to exhibit such a spectacle. It therefore proba- 
bly belongs to Gadara on the Mediterranean. 

Galatia, a province of Asia Minor, bounded north by 
Bithynia and Paphlagonia ; east by Pontus and Cappadocia ; 
south by Lycaonia ; and west by Phrygia. It is believed to 
have taken its name from the Gauls, who, under their captain 
Leonorius, as Strabo informs us, left their own country in Eu- 
rope, and having ravaged Italy and Greece, burned the city 
of Rome, passed into Asia, and advanced as far as Babylon, 
carrying conquest and ruin wherever they went ; but being 
defeated by Attalus, king of Pergamus, and driven out of 
other parts, they were at last confined to this province, where 
they were finally established. Being now peopled by a mix- 
ture of Gauls and Greeks, it was called Gaulo-grecia, and at 
length Galatia. These Gauls are said not only to have re- 
tained their own language, but to have made it the language 
of the country. 

St. Paul visited Galatia about A. D. 50, and founded a numbei 
of churches. In 52 he wrote them an epistle, and again visited 
them about a year after. From his letter to them, it seems 
that Christianity did not alter their national character, which 
was both fickle and ferocious. They received him, not merely 
with the respect and affection due to an apostle, but as if he 
had been an angel, or Christ himself. Yet they soon changed, 
and relinquished his principles, behaving, according to his com- 
plaint, as if they had " been bewitched," or possessed with 
evil spirits. 

Galatia was a part of the kingdom of Pontus, in the time 
of Mithridates Eupator. 

Galilee, a province in the north of Canaan, or the Holy 
Land, consisting chiefly of what was once the territories of 
Issachar, Zebulon, Naphtali, and Asher ; and according to 
some writers, including part of Dan, and of Perea, east of 
Jordan. It was bounded on the north by Lebanon and Syria ; 
on the east mostly by the Jordan and the sea of Galilee ; on 
the south by Samaria ; and on the west by Phenicia. It ha» 
02 








162 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



GAL 



generally been considered as divided into two parts, Upper 
and Lower Galilee : the former called Galilee of the Gentiles, 
(Matt. iv. 15.) probably because it was chiefly possessed by the 
Gentiles, having some Jews scattered among them ; or be- 
cause it bordered upon the Gentile nations of Phenicians, 
Syrians, and Arabians. 

Galilee is an ancient name, being found so early as Josh.. 
xx. 7. xxi. 32. 1 Kings ix. 11. and several other passages of 
the Old Testament ; it is thought to be the same as Gilgal, 
the kings of whose nations are mentioned in Josh. xii. 23. 
and probably is called Gilgal. (Deut. xi. 30.) This was the coun- 
try most honoured by the presence of our Saviour. It was here 
that he was conceived, (Luke i. 26.) here that he was brought 
by his reputed parents, when a child, out of Egypt ; here he 
settled and lived with them, till he began to be about thirty 
years of age, and was baptized by John, (Matt. ii. 22. Luke ii. 
39. 51. Matt. iii. 13. Luke iii. 23.) hither he returned after 
his baptism and temptation. (Luke iv. 14.) And after his en- 
try on his public ministry, though he frequently visited other 
provinces, yet here was his dwelling-place. (Matt. iv. 13.) 
And lastly, hither the Apostles came to converse with him 
after his resurrection, by his appointment. (Matt, xxviii. 7. 16.) 
The most of his apostles also, if not all, were natives of this 
country, whence they were all styled by the angels, " men of 
Galilee." (Acts i. 11.) Our Lord was also called a Galilean, 
(Matt. xxvi. 69.) and it deserves notice that he was addressed 
under this title by his adversary, the dying Julian, who being 
cut off from prosecuting his purposes against Christianity, ex- 
claimed in the hour of death, Vicisti Galilcee ! thou hast con- 
quered^ O Galilean! 

Galilee was fruitful and well cultivated, and the people 
industrious. The number of its cities, towns, and villages was 
very great, and they, as well as the whole country, were ex- 
ceedingly populous. It was one of the more extensive pro- 
vinces, into which the Holy Land was divided, after the return 
of Israel from captivity ; somewhat greater in extent than 
Judea ; but probably varied its bounds at different periods. 
Its language differed considerably from that of Judea ; and as 
the Galileans were a mixture of sundry nations, probably with 
many Jews returned from captivity, many provincial idioms 
might exist : hence we find Peter detected by his language. 
Mark xiv. 70. 

Galilee, Sea of, otherwise called the Sea of Tiberias, 



GAZ DICTIONARY OF THE EIBLE. 10^ 

from a town of that name, standing on its western shore ; and 
the Lake of Gennesareth, which is probably a corruption of 
Chinnereth, the ancient name of this sea, or lake. (Numb, 
xxxiv. 11. Josh. xii. 3.) Its breadth, according to Josephus, 
from east to west, is about six miles, and the length, from 
north to south, about eighteen ; the water is pure and whole- 
gome, abounding with a great variety of fish, not found any- 
where else. Its bed, and banks, are a smooth gravel, con- 
sequently very convenient for the drawing of nets. This sea 
is viewed with veneration by Christians, from having been 
much frequented by Christ and his apostles. 

Gallim, a city of Benjamin. (1 Sam. xxv. 44. Isa. x. 30.) 
Some authors mention a town of this name, east of Jordan, in 
the land of Moab, south from the city of Ar. 

Gath, a city of the Philistines, and one of their five lord- 
ships. (1 Sam. vi. 17.) It lay in the tribe of Dan, west of 
Jerusalem, and is famous as the native place of Goliah. It 
was taken by David, was afterwards rebuilt by Rehoboam, 
his grandson, and was finally laid waste by Hazael, king of 
Syria. Eusebius and Jerom say that it still existed in their 
day. It appears to have been an ancient city, being men- 
tioned so early as Josh. xi. 22. 

Gath-hepher, a town in the tribe of Zebulon, (Josh. xix. 
13.) the birth-place of the prophet Jonah, (2 Kings xiv. 25.) 
whose tomb, according to Jerom, was still to be seen there in 
the fourth century. 

Gath-rimmon, a city of Dan, (Josh. xix. 45.) also in 
Manasseh, west of Jordan, given to the Levites, (Josh. xxi. 
25.) and another in Ephraim. 

Gaulon, See Golan. 

Gaza, one of the five principal cities and lordships of the 
Philistines, situated in the south-west of the promised land ; 
and is a city of great antiquity, being noticed among those 
which formed the boundary of the territory of Canaan. Its 
advantageous situation was the cause of the many revolu- 
tions to which it has been subject. It first belonged to the 
Philistines, then to the Hebrews ; recovered its liberty in the 
reigns of Jotham and Ahaz, and was reconquered by Heze- 
kiah. (2 Kings xviii. 8.) It was smitten by Pharaoh, (Jer. 
xlvii. 1.) and was subject to the Assyrians and Babylonians, 
who conquered Syria and Phenicia. Afterwards it fell into 
the hands of the Persians, who were masters of it when 
Alexander besieged, took, and destroyed it. A new city rose 



164 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



GAZ 






from its ruins, nearer the sea ; after which ancient writers 
speak of Old Gaza, and Strabo mentions Gaza the desert, 
which agrees with Acts viii. 26. In the destruction of this 
city were verified the predictions of the prophets. (Amos i. 7. 
Zeph. ii. 4.) The new city was called Majuma, and was 
several times taken and retaken in the wars between Antio- 
chus and the Maccabees. It afterwards fell under the do- 
minion of the Romans, and was given by Augustus to Herod 
the Great. It is said in Acts viii. 26. to be a desert ; but this 
probably means Old Gaza, and not Majuma, which was very 
populous. The emperor Constantine gave Majuma the name 
of Constantia, and granted it the honours and privileges of a 
city, independent of Gaza ; but of both its name and its privi- 
leges it was deprived by the emperor Julian. 

Some marks of the ancient grandeur of this place still 
remain in the marble columns which now support dirty 
cottages ; and it yet has a better appearance than most of the 
towns in this country. The country around is very fruitful, 
and well cultivated ; and the gardens in the vicinity of the 
city are represented as offering a delightful prospect. The 
inhabitants, in complexion, stature, manners, and language, 
resemble the Egyptians more than the Syrians. Diseases of 
the eyes are common here, and many of the people are led 
through the streets entirely blind. In the town is a consider- 
able number of Christians, who inhabit a separate part of the 
city, as do those of other different religions. The Greeks and 
Armenians both have Christian churches here. The town 
has about two thousand inhabitants, and stands about three 
miles from the sea, having an indifferent port. There are 
some manufactories of cotton, and a considerable commerce 
is carried on, chiefly by means of caravans passing between 
Egypt and Syria, and by the Arabs who resort here to sell 
their plunder. 

The French army of Egypt took Gaza in 1797, but soon 
deserted it, having lost here 500 men by the plague. 

It is noted in Scripture history for the exploits of Samson ; 
and a little distance from the city is still shown a pile of rub- 
bish, which they say is the ruins of the temple whieh he 
pulled down on the Philistines. Here also Philip baptized the 
eunuch of Ethiopia. Acts viii. 26. 

Gaza is situated fifty miles south-west of Jerusalem, and m 
called by the Arabs, Rassa. 



GAZ 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



165 




A medal of Gaza, representing the head of the turreted goddess. 
Ashtaroth, Astarte, or Venus ; and on the reverse the peculiar and ap- 
propriate symbol of this city. It appears to be a key of a particular 
shape, and it is possible that, besides the character of Gaza, as being 
the key of Syria towards Egypt, as it really is, the inhabitants might 
boast of the excellence of that kind of key which they were accustom- 
ed to use. This may also illustrate a circumstance mentioned in Judges 
xvi. 2. The people of Gaza laid wait for Samson all night, in the gate 
of their city, and were quiet, depending on the impossibility of his 
opening the locks of their city door ; but at midnight he took away the 
doors, the two posts, bar, and all which had been their reliance for 
securing him. This bar is probably what w T e see in the figure, crossing 
the key in the middle. As Gaza prided itself upon being the key of 
Syria, no doubt it would denote this character by using on its medals 
a key of that kind, which it considered the most secure and substantial 
The arms of Gibraltar are a key, that town having been formerly 
esteemed the key of Spain, as it now is of the Mediterranean. 




Another medal of Gaza, with the head of the emperor Commodus, 
inscribed with his name. The reverse exhibits a figure under the 
character of Jupiter ; holding in one hand the thunder, in the other a 
globe : opposite to him is an heroic figure whose attributes are not dis- 
tinguishable : between the two figures is the symbol of the city of Gaza. 
The whole passes in a temple having two pillars. The date CMC, 239, 
is from the year of Rome 693, under the reign of Marcus Aurelius, two 
years before his death. Commodus was then 17 years of age; his 



166 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



GEB 






father had associated him in the empire three years before. Perhaps 
this medal represents the old emperor delivering the insignia of go- 
vernment to his son. 

Geba, (1 Sam. xiii. 3.) the same as Gaba. (Josh, xviii. 24.) 
Some writers have been of opinion that this Geba or Gaba, 
was also the same as Gibeah ; but this is rendered unlikely, 
not only by Gibeath, probably the same as Gibeah, being 
named distinct from Gaba, (Josh, xviii.) but also by other cir- 
cumstances. By comparing 2 Sam. v. 25. with 1 Chron. xiv, 
16. we find the same place called both Geba and Gibeon. 
Considerable uncertainty attends this subject ; Geba or Gebau 
appears to be the root of the many names which are written 
in our translation Gibeah, Gibeath, and possibly Gibeon; 
which makes distinction between these cities difficult. 

A medal with the head of 
the empress Plautina, inscrib- 
ed with her name : on the re- 
verse the inscription gabe- 
non, of Gaba ; either Gabe in 
Syria, or Geba in Judea. In 
either case it shows that the 
Gentile deities prevailed in 
these countries long after the 
time of Christ. The date is 
171, the thirteenth of Trajan. 

Gebal, a country mentioned with Arnmon, Amalek, &c. 
(Psalm lxxxi. 7.) and supposed to be situated in the south of 
Edom or Idumea. 

There was also a place of this name in Phenicia on the 
Mediterranean, perhaps the same which is sometimes called 
Byblos. Pliny calls it Gabale, and its modern name is Gibyle, 
or Jebilee. This was the place of the Gibelites mentioned in 
Josh. xiii. 5. The people of Gebal were employed in caulking 
the ships of Tyre, (Ezek. xxvii. 9.) it is also supposed to be the 
place from which Solomon had his stone-cutters. (1 Kings v. 
18.) This place was once famous for a temple of Adonis or 
Thammuz ; it now has a ditch round it, with some square tow- 
ers ; but is miserably poor, and remarkable only for its ruins. 

A medal inscribed gabaleon, of 
Gabala, or Gebal ; and the only one 
known which bears the name of this 
town. Its type is a crab, holding in 
its claws the emblems of the sun and 





GER DICTIONARY OP THE BIBLE. 167 

Geder, Gederoth, and Gedor : see Gadara. 

Gehinnom, the valley of Hinnom, lying on the south and 
east of Jerusalem, (Josh. xv. 8.) and through which the brook 
Kidron runs. This valley is remarkable as the scene of that 
inhuman and idolatrous worship paid to Moloch, in which 
parents made their children pass through the fire, or burned 
them, as sacrifices to that idol. This valley having been the 
scene of much cruelty, in order to render such idolatry odious, 
the place was devoted to filthiness and pollution. It has been 
said, that fires were continually burning in it to consume the 
filth carried there from the city. This perpetual burning 
added another similarity to those evils attributed to the place 
of torment, and thus the ideas of wickedness, pollution, and 
punishment were attached to this place; so that the word 
Gehinnom was used in the Syriac language to denote hell : 
this was moulded by the Greeks into Gehenna, and is used in 
Scripture as the term signifying hell, or hell fire. 

Geliloth, a place in the borders of Judah and Benjamin, 
(Josh, xviii. 17.) thought to be the place otherwise called 
Gilgal ; or at least in nearly the same situation. 

Gennesareth, Lake of; see Sea of Galilee. 

Gennesareth, country of; a region along the lake of this 
name, decribed by Josephus, as wonderfully pleasant and fer- 
tile. The temperature of the air agrees with fruits of dif- 
ferent natures ; so that here grow nuts, a mere winter-fruit ; 
palms which require much heat; and near them figs and 
olives, which require a moderate air. Josephus attributes the 
extraordinary fruitfulness and beauty of this region, to the 
peculiar providence of God, as if he took delight in this spot 
of ground ; and it was a common saying among the Jews, that 
God loved the sea of Gennesareth more than any other sea. 
This remarkable tract of country was but four miles long, and 
two and a half broad. 

Gerar, a city in the land of the Philistines, where Abraham 
sojourned, and of which Abimelech was king. It was situated 
near the south-western corner of the land of Canaan, not far 
from Gaza. Gen. xx. 1. xxi. 32. xxvi. 1. 17. 

Gergesa, or Gerasa, a city east of the sea of Galilee, not 
far from Gadara. St. Matthew says it was in the country of 
the Gergasenes, that the swine ran down into the sea ; while 
St. Mark calls it the country of the Gadarenes. See Gadara. 
Origen says that in his time they showed the precipice on the 



168 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. GEZ 

sea of Tiberias or Galilee, from which the swine rushed into 
the water. 

Gerizim , a mountain near Shechem, in the tribe of Ephraim, 
opposite to Mount Ebal ; Shechem lying in the valley between 
them. After passing the Jordan, the Israelites were com- 
manded to go to these mountains ; six of the tribes were to 
take their station on each ; those on Mount Gerizim were to 
pronounce blessings upon those who should observe the law 
of the Lord ; and those upon Ebal, curses against those who 
should violate it (Deut. xi. 29. xxvii. 12.) Gerizim is de- 
scribed by travellers as a fruitful mountain; while Ebal is 
barren and scorched ; as if the blessing and the curse still 
rested upon them. 

The Samaritans maintain that Abraham and Jacob erected 
altars at Gerizim ; and that there Abraham prepared to sacri- 
fice his son Isaac. 

Geshur, a country in Syria, having its own king, whose 
daughter David married, who was the mother of Absalom. 
(2 Sam. xv. 8.) Absalom, after the murder of his brother, 
fled to the king of Geshur, his grandfather. 2 Sam. xiii. 37. 

Gethsemane, a village near Mount Olivet, whither Jesus 
sometimes retreated at night. The garden in which he was 
taken by Judas and those who were with him, is still shown : 
it is a level spot of ground about 15 ya.rds square, lying be- 
tween the foot of Mount Olivet and the brook Kedron. It is 
now well covered with olive-trees ; some of them so remark- 
ably large as to be thought the same which were there in 
the time of our Saviour. At the upper corner of the gar- 
den is a flat ledge of rock, said to be the spot where Peter, 
James, and John fell asleep during the agony of our Lord, 
which was suffered in a grotto a few paces distant. In this 
garden a narrow strip is walled out separate, as an accursed 
piece of ground : this is said to be the path in which the 
traitor Judas walked up to Christ, saying, "Hail, Master," 
and kissing him. This work is the more remarkable, as it 
was probably done by the Mahometans, who, as well as the 
Christians, detest the very ground on which was manifested 
such infamous treachery. 

Gezer, See Gadara. 

Gezrites, or Gerzites, a people invaded by David while he 
tarried at Ziklag, (1 Sam. xxvii. 8.) at the same time with the 
Geshurites. These Gerzites are supposed to be the same as the 
Gerrenians, or inhabitants of Gerar, mentioned 2 Mace. xiii. 24. 



GOB DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 169 

Giah, a valley near Gibeon. 2 Sam. ii. 24. 

Gibbethon, a city in the tribe of Dan, allotted to the Le- 
vites. (Josh. xxi. 23.) It was a strong place, and endured a 
long siege against Nadab. 1 Kings xv. 27. xvi. 15. 17. 

Gibeah, a city in the tribe of Benjamin, three or four miles 
north of Jerusalem. It is sometimes called Gibeah of Saul, 
being the place of his nativity. It was also noted for its sins, 
as may be seen by reference to Judges xix. 

Gibeah was also the name of a town in Judah, (Josh. xv. 
57.) and of a hill where Eleazar was buried, (Josh. xxiv. 33.) 
rendered in our translation, " a hill ;" but in the original it is 
" Gibeah of Phinehas." 

Gibeon, a city situated about four miles north of Jerusalem, 
not far from Gibeah. Eusebius says that it was a village in 
his time, still retaining its ancient name, and four miles from 
Bethel. See Part I. p. 56. 

Gihon, one of the four rivers flowing from Eden. Gen. ii. 
13. See Part I. p. 11. 

Gihon, was also the name of a fountain west of Jerusalem, 
where Solomon was anointed king. (1 Kings i. 33. 38. 45.) 
Hezekiah ordered the upper channel of this fountain to be 
conveyed to Jerusalem ; (2 Chron. xxxii. 30.) probably to pre- 
vent the enemy, when the city was besieged, from making 
use of the water, as well as for the advantage of the citizens. 

Gilboa, a mountain not far from Bethshean, in the east of 
the tribe of Issachar; celebrated for the death of Saul and his 
son Jonathan. 1 Sam. xxxi. 1, 2. 

Gilead, part of the mountains extending from Mount Le- 
banon southward ; and east of the Land of Canaan. See Part 
I. p. 37. On these mountains grew trees producing a kind of 
gum, called the balm of Gilead. 

There appears also to have been a place of this name in 
Ephraim. Hosea vi. 8. 

Gilgal, a place near Jericho. See Part I. p. 55 and 61. 

Giloh, a city of Judah. (Josh. xv. 51.) Ahithophel, one 
of David's counsellors, was of this place. 2 Sam. xv. 12. 
xxiii. 34. 

Gimzo, a city in the south of Judah, taken by the Philis- 
tines in the reign of Ahaz. 2 Chron. xxviii. 18. 

Girgashites, a people of Canaan. See Part L p. 28. 

Gittites, the people of Gath. Josh. xiii. 3. 

Gob, a place where two battles were fought between the 
P 



170 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. GRE 

Israelites and the Philistines, (2 Sam. xxi. 18.) probably the 
same as Gezer, and so called. 1 Chron. xx. 4. 

Gog and Magog. Magog was a son of Japhet, and the 
father of the Scythians and other nations of the north. See 
Part I. p. 17. Gog was the prince of the country of Magog. 
(Ezek. xxxviii. and xxxix.) It is believed that Gog and Ma- 
gog in Ezekiel and the Revelations, are taken allegorically 
for such princes as were enemies to the church. 

Golan, or Gaulan, a noted city of Bashan, east of the Jor- 
dan, afterwards allotted to Manasseh. It was one of the 
Levitical cities, and also a city of refuge. (Deut. iv. 43. Josh, 
xxi. 27.) This city gave name to the region afterwards called 
Gaulon, or Gaulonitis, which ' extended from Perea on the 
south, to Lebanon on the north. 

Golgotha, See Calvary. 

Gomorrah, one of the five cities destroyed by fire from 
heaven. See Part L p. 31. 

Goshen, a district of Egypt inhabited by the Israelites ; 
also a tract of country in the south of Judah. See Part I. p. 
39 and 58. Also a city in the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 51. 

Gozan, a river of Media, in a province of the same name, 
to which the captive Israelites were carried by Sennacherib, 
king of Assyria. 2 Kings xvii. 6. 1 Chron. v. 26. 

Greece : this word is often used in Scripture in a very ex- 
tended sense, comprehending all the countries inhabited by 
the descendants of Javan, the son of Japhet, not only in Greece 
proper, but also in Ionia and Asia Minor. See Part I. pp. 18, 
19. The Hebrew word Javan, or Iowjzn, is used in the 
Old Testament to signify Greece and the Greeks. There is 
but little said in Scripture with reference to this country, 
until the time of Alexander, who, having pushed his conquests 
into Asia, made Greece, or Macedonia, more important. 
After the time of this conqueror, the name of Greeks was 
used in a still more uncertain and enlarged sense ; because, 
the Greeks being masters of Egypt and Syria, the countries 
beyond the Euphrates, and of other provinces, the Jews were 
used to call all those Gentile people Greeks, who were subject 
to the Greek empire, either in the east or west. For this 
reason, in many passages of the books of Maccabees, in the 
Gospels, and in St. Paul's writings, a Greek commonly signi- 
fies a Gentile. 

Javan, or Greece, is mentioned in Isaiah, (lxvi. 19.) in Eze- 
kiel, (xxvii. 13. 19.) in Daniel, (xi. 2) and Zechariah declares 



GRE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 171 

that God shall raise up the sons of Zion against the sons of 
Javan, (ix. 13.) which refers to the wars carried on by the 
Jews under the Maccabees, against Antiochus Epiphanes and 
the Greeks who possessed the kingdom of Syria. Daniel 
(viii. 21. x. 20.) describes Alexander the Great by the name 
of the king of Javan. Greece anciently included Macedonia, 
and is so used by Daniel ; but in the time of St. Paul there 
was a distinction, for we read that Paul, " passing through 
Macedonia, came into Greece." 

After the establishment of the Grecian dynasties in Asia, 
it is natural that Judea should be considerably affected by 
them ; and the books of the Maccabees afford proofs of this. 
The Roman power, superseding the Grecian establishments, 
yet left traces of the Greek language, customs, &c. to the 
days of the Herods, where the gospel history commences. 
By the labours of the apostles, especially of Paul, the gospel 
was propagated in those countries which used the Greek dia- 
lects ; hence we are interested in the study of this language, 
as it was that in which the epistles to the churches of those 
countries were written. Many flourishing churches were 
early established among the Greeks, which for a long time 
preserved the apostolic precepts and customs with much care. 
But at length they began to differ on points of doctrine — 
schisms and heresies divided the church, and rancour and 
persecution followed. To check these evils, councils were 
called, and various creeds were composed, some of which re- 
tain an authority to the present day. 

The removal of the seat of government by Constantine, 
from Rome to Constantinople, gave a sensible preponderance 
to the Grecian districts of the empire ; and the ecclesiastical 
determinations of the Greek church were extensively received 
with respect, if not with submission. Greece continued to enjoy 
the presence of the emperor till the beginning of the fifteenth 
century, when the Turks began to harass the empire, and 
finally took Constantinople, A. D. 1453. The submission of 
all Greece followed ; since which time, this country and its 
inhabitants exhibit a picture of wretched and debased slavery. 
Recent events seem to render it probable that a part of the 
Greek nation has regained its liberty ; but whether they are 
qualified to retain it, time alone can determine. 

The architectural remains of Greece still attest its former 
grandeur, though many of its most beautiful buildings, which 
the hand of time might have spared, have fallen before the 



172 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



HAli 




ruthless barbarism of the Turks, who seem to take a pleasure 
in the wanton destruction of the proudest monuments of 
antiquity. 

Gur, a place near Ibleam, in the tribe of Manasseh, west 
of Jordan; where Ahaziah, king of Judah, was mortally 
wounded by Jeshu. 2 Kings ix. 27. 

Gur-baal, the name of a place inhabited by Arabians ; the 
situation of which is not known. 2 Chron. xxvi. 7. 



H. 

Habor, a city on the river Gozan in Media, to which the 
captive Israelites were carried by the king of Assyria. 2 
Kings xvii. 6. xviii. 11. 1 Chron. v. 26. 

Hachilah, a hill in the south-east of Judah, near .Teshimon ; 
where David hid himself from Saul. (1 Sam. xxiii. 19. xxvi. 3.) 
Here Jonathan the Maccabee afterwards built the almost im- 
pregnable fortress of Massada, whose garrison killed them- 
selves after the taking of Jerusalem by Titus. 

Hadad-rimmon, See Adad-rirnmon 

Hadashah, a town in Judah, (Josh. xv. 37.) and according 
to the rabbins one of the smallest, having only fifty houses. 

Hadrach, a part of Syria, between Libanus and Anti-Li- 
banus ; thought b} some to be part of the territory of Damas- 
cus. Zech. ix. 1. 



HAU DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 173 

Hagarenes, the Ishmaelites, or descendants of Abraham 
and Uagar. 

Hai, the same as Ai. See Part I. p. 56. 

Halah, a place in Media, to which the king of Assyria 
transported the captive Israelites. 2 Kings xvii. 6. 

Halhul, a city in the tribe of Judah, probably not far from 
Hebron. Josh. xv. 58. 

Hamath, is a term frequently used in Scripture ; and it 
seems there were several places called by this name. 

The kingdom of Hamath lay on the north of Canaan, ex- 
tending from the Mediterranean west, to Damascus east. 
The extent of Canaan is often expressed as reaching from the 
entering in of Hamath, to the river of Egypt. The capital of 
this kingdom was sometimes called Hamath Zobah. It is 
uncertain whether this is Hamath the great, (Amos vi. 2.) 
which was in the north of Syria. Jerom says this last was 
the same as Antioch. There was also a place called Hamath 
in the tribe of Naphtali, near the entrance into Ccelo-Syria, 
which was probably " the entering in of Hamath." 

Hammon, a city of iVsher, (Josh. xix. 28.) probably the same 
as that said to be in Naphtali. 1 Chron. vi. 76. 

Hammoth-dor, a city in the tribe of Naphtali, given to the 
Levites. Josh. xix. 35. xxi. 32. 

Hannathon, a town in the tribe of Zebulon. Josh. xix. 14. 

Hanes, a city of Egypt, (Isa. xxx. 4.) called by the Greeks, 
Anusis. St. Jerom thinks it lay upon the borders of Ethio- 
pia ; while others suppose it to have been Daphnse or Pelu- 
Bium, near Damietta. 

Hapharaim, a city of Issachar. Josh. xix. 19. 

Hara, a place in Media or Assyria, to which some of the 
Israelites were carried by Tiglath-Pileser. 1 Chron. v. 26. 

Haran, or Char an ; See Part I. p. 30. 

Hareth, a forest in the tribe of Judah, to which David fled 
from Saul. 1 Sam. xxii. 5. 

Harod, a well or fountain in the plain of Jezreel ; near the 
hill of Moreh, and Mount Gilboa. Judg. vii. 1. 

Harosheth, a city of Naphtali, near the waters of Merom : 
here dwelt Sisera, who commanded the troops of Jabin, king 
of Hazor. Judges iv. 2. 

Hauran, a country north-east of the land of Canaan; pro- 
bably the same as Iturea. St Jerom and others say that it 
is the country south of Damascus. According to Abulfeda, 
Bozra is the capital of the country of Hauran. It seems the 
P2 



174 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. HAZ 

same as the province called by the Greeks Auranitis, on the 
east of Jordan. 

Hayilah, or Chavilah ; there appears to be two countries 
of this name mentioned in Scripture: 

1. Havilah, the son of Cush, (Gen. x. 7.) who was settled 
in Arabia, on the coast of the Persian Gulf. See Part I. 
p. 24. It is believed that Gen. xxv. 18. and 1 Sam. xv. 7. 
may refer to this Havilah. 

2. Havilah the son of Joktan, of the family of Shem. (Gen, 
x. 29.) The sons of Joktan dwelt between the Mounts 
Mesha and Sephar, which are generally allowed to have been 
in Upper Mesopotamia, near the source of the Tigris ; con- 
sequently this Havilah was seated in that country or in the 
south of Armenia. This agrees with the supposition that the 
Tigris was the Pison, " which compasseth the whole land of 
Havilah." (Gen. ii. 11.) The situation of these countries is, 
however, very uncertain, and the opinions of the learned 

I respecting them are very contradictory. Dr. Wells supposes 

this last mentioned Havilah to have been in Arabia, between 
the southern extremity of the Dead Sea and Egypt; and 
makes the above-mentioned texts of Gen. xxv. 18. and 1 Sam. 
xv. 7. refer to it : the other Havilah he thinks was near the 
head of the river Indus, a branch of which was the Pison. 

Calmet supposes Havilah to have been in the region where 
the Tigris and Euphrates unite, and empty into the Persian 
Gulf. 

Havoth-jair, villages in the land of Bashan or Gilead, in 
the tribe of Manasseh, east of Jordan. Numb, xxxii. 41. 
Deut. iii. 14. 
I Hazar-gadda, a city in the south of the tribe of Judah. 

Josh. xv. 27. 

Hazar-shual, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 28.) given to 
Simeon, xix. 3. Neh. xi. 27. 

Hazar-susah, a city of Judah. Josh. xix. 5. 

Hazeroth, or Hazerim, a station of the Israelites in the 
wilderness. Numb. xi. 35. xii. 16. Deut. i. 1. 

Hazezon-tamar, the same as Engedi. 

Hazor : there appear to have been three cities of this name 
in the tribe of Judah, one of which was otherwise called 
Hezron. (Josh. xv. 23. 25.) Another in Naphtali. (Josh. xix. 
36.) Another in Arabia, (Jer. xlix. 28. 30. 33.) which was 
once a celebrated city, and the capital of a kingdom. The 



HEL DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 175 

Hazor built by Solomon, (1 Kings ix. 15.) was probably that 
in Naphtali, which he rebuilt or fortified. 

Hebron, Chebron, or Kirjath-arba ; an ancient city in the 
tribe of Judah, and much noted in Scripture. See Part L 
p. 32. 

Helam, & town east of Jordan, which was a place of 
rendezvous for the Syrian troops. (2 Sam. x. 16.) It is 
thought to be the same as Alamatha, mentioned by Ptolemy 
in the region of Trachonitis. 

Helbah, a town in the tribe of Asher, from which the Ca- 
naanites were not driven out. Judges i. 31. 

Helbon, a place near Damascus, famous for its wine. 
(Ezek. xxvii. 18.) This is thought to be the place now 
known by the name of Aleppo, called by the x\rabs Halab. 
From this place the ancient kings of Persia had the wine for 
their own tables. It is situated in the north of Syria, and is 
one of the most important cities in the Turkish empire ; hav- 
ing about 250,000 inhabitants, and carries on an extensive 
commerce, by means of caravans, with all parts of the East 

Heleph, a city in the borders of Naphtali, not far from 
Sidon. Josh. xix. 33. 

Heliopolis, a city in Egypt. See Part I. p. 39. 

There was also a city in Coelo-Syria called Heliopolis, or 
Balbec ; supposed to have been referred to by Amos, (i. 5.) 
where he says, " I will cut off the inhabitants from the plain 
of Aven," or Beckathaven ; the idoVs camp, or the valley of 
iniquity ; by which he is supposed to mean the place since 
called Baal-beck, that is, the valley of Baal, or the idol. The 
inhabitants of Balbec have indeed been " cut off;" for the 
place is now a desert ; but magnificent ruins yet remain to 
tell its former grandeur. Many pillars and columns of mar- 
ble are yet standing, 15 feet in circumference and 44 feet 
high ; some, including their entablatures, are 72 feet in height. 
The ground is strewed with broken columns, mutilated capi- 
tals, and the remains of pilasters, entablatures and cornices, 
around ruined courts, edifices and temples, which display all 
the ornaments of the noblest architecture, and are adorned 
with the richest workmanship of sculpture. The size of the 
stones which compose the mouldering walls is surprising; 
being from 28 to 35 feet long, and 9 feet thick. In one place, 
three stones extend 175 feet ; one of them being 59 feet long, 
and the other two each 58; they are twelve feet thick, and 
of white marble. At a quarry, near these ruins, is a stone 






176 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



HER 



hewn on three sides, which is 69 feet 2 inches long, 12 feet 
10 inches broad, and 13 feet 3 inches thick. By what means 
the ancients moved these huge and ponderous masses of mar- 
ble, is utterly inconceivable ! The ruins of a temple dedicated 
to the sun, is the most surprising object among the remains of 
this once populous and splendid city. Balbec lies in the way 
from Tyre to Tadmor or Palmyra, and doubtless enjoyed a 
liberal share of the opulent traffic of those populous and 
wealthy cities. Its ruins are 50 miles north-west of Damascus. 

Helkath, a city of Asher, (Josh. xix. 25.) given to the Le- 
vites. (xxi. 31.) 

Hena, a city near the Euphrates, between Mesopotamia 
and Arabia. 2 Kings xviii. 34. 

Hepher, a country probably in the north of Judah. (1 Kings 
iv. 10.) A city. Josh. xii. 17. 

Heres, a mountain in the tribe of Dan, on which was situ- 
ated the town of Aijalon. Judges i. 35. 

Hermon, a branch of the mountains of Lebanon, forming 
the north-eastern boundary of the land of Canaan ; and which, 
extending further south, along the eastern border of JManasseh, 
is called Mount Gilead. Mount Hermon is mentioned (Deut 
iii. 8, 9.) as the northern boundary of the kings of the Amor- 
ites, or of the country east of Jordan ; and there we learn 
that it was called by the Sidonians, Sirion, and by the Amorites 
Shenir. In chap. iv. 48. we find this same mountain called 
Sion, instead of Sirion ; though in the Hebrew text it is writ- 
ten differently from the name of Mount Sion at Jerusalem. 
In like manner the name given it by the Amorites, Shenir, is 
sometimes written Seir; and means this Mount Hermon, 
instead of Mount Seir, in Edorn. 

There also appears to have been another mountain called 
Hermon, on the west of Jordan, and not far from Mount 
Tabor. (Psalm lxxxix. 12. cxxxiii. 3.) Mr. Maundrell tells us 
that in three hours and a half from the river Kishon, he came 
to a small brook, from which he had an extensive prospect of 
the plain of Esdraelon. To the east, six or seven hours dis- 
tant, Nazareth was visible, and the two mountains, Tabor and 
Hermon. He adds, " we were sufficiently instructed by expe- 
rience, what the holy Psalmist means by the 'dew of Hermon/ 
our tents being wet with it, as if it had rained all night." The 
learned Calmet, however, doubts whether the name of Her- 
mon was ever applied to any mountain, west of the Jordan, 
till days more modern than the writing of the Scriptures. 



HOB DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 177 

Heshbon, a city, according to Eusebius, twenty miles east 
of the Jordan, and nearly opposite Jericho. It was formerly 
the capital of the Amontes ; and their king, Sihon, is some- 
times called king- of Heshbon. (Deut. ii. 26. Josh. xiii. 10.) 
After the conquest of the country, Heshbon was given to the 
tribe of Reuben, (Josh. xiii. 17.) but seems afterwards to have 
been made over to Gad. (verse 26.) It was near the border 
or boundary between these two tribes. This place is noted 
for its fish-pools, (Song vii. 4.) and seems to have had a lake 
near it. (2 Mace. xii. 16.) The Caspis mentioned in this 
passage is supposed to be Heshbon; which continued to be a 
noble city in the days of Eusebius and Jerom ; being then 
called by the Greeks, Esbus, and reckoned a city of Arabia, 
under which name was then comprehended a considerable 
part of Perea, or the country beyond Jordan. 

After the carrying away of the ten tribes, Heshbon was 
repossessed by the Moabites ; whence in the prophecies against 
Moab, (Isa. xv. xvi. Jer. xlviii. xlix.) we find frequent men- 
tion of it. 

Heshmon, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 27. 

Hethlon, a city on the northern limits of the land of Ca- 
naan. Ezek. xlvii. 15. xlviii. 1. 

Hezron, a city in the south of Judah. 

Hiddekel, one of the rivers of Eden. See Part I. p. 9, 10. 

Hierapolis, a city of Phrygia, in Asia Minor, near Colosse 
and Laodicea. St. Paul, in his epistle to the Colossians, (iv. 13.) 
expresses his zeal and affection for those of Hierapolis. This 
city was destroyed by an earthquake in the early ages of Chris- 
tianity. Some white cliffs in the vicinity of the modern town, 
called by the Turks Pambuck-Kulasi, or the cotton tower, are 
said to mark the site of the ancient city. Here are vast and 
splendid ruins, consisting of walls, arches, and pillars, of great 
height and excellent workmanship ; proving this to have once 
been a great and beautiful city. The numerous temples 
erected there in the idolatrous ages, with so much art and 
cost, probably gave it the name of Hierapolis, the sacred city. 
It is 17 miles north-west of Laodicea, the river Lycus running 
between them. 

Hinnom, a valley near Jerusalem, sometimes called the 
valley of the son of Hinnom. See Gehinnorn. 

Hivites, a people of Canaan. See Part I. p. 28. 

Hobaii, a place in Syria, to which Abraham pursued the 
army which had taken Lot. (Gen. xiv. 15.) It is supposed by 



178 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



ICO 



some to be the same as Abila, on the north-west of Damascus ; 
but others place it beyond that city, towards the Euphrates, 
where there was a place called by the Greeks Sopha, and 
Sophene. 

Holon, a city in the mountains of Judah, (Josh. xv. 51.) 
also a Levitical city, and a city of refuge. (Josh. xxi. 15.) 
A city of Moab is mentioned by this name. Jer. xlviii. 21. 

Hor, a mountain. See Part I. p. 48. 

Horeb, a celebrated mountain in Arabia, near the Red Sea. 
See Part I. p. 45. 

Horem, a city of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 38. 

Hor-hagidgad, an encampment of the Israelites in the 
desert, (Numb, xxxiii. 32, 33.) written Gudgodah in Deut. x. 7. 

Horites, an ancient people inhabiting Mount Seir in Edom, 
before Esau settled in that country. (Gen. xiv. 6. xxxvi. 20. 30.) 
They had princes, and seem to have been a considerable 
nation before that time : afterwards they appear to have been 
blended with the Edomites, or descendants of Esau, so as to 
have composed but one people. (Deut. ii. 1. xxxiii. 2. Judges 
v. 4.) Their country lay south-east of Canaan. 

Hormah, a city of Judah, afterwards given to Simeon. 
(Josh. xv. 30. xix. 4. Numb. xiv. 45. Deut. i. 44.) Its original 
name was Zephathah. Judges i. 17. 2 Chron. xiv. 10. 

Horonaim, a city of Moab. Isa. xv. 5. 

Hosah, a town of Asher. Josh. xix. 29. 

Hukkok, a city on the boundary between Asher and Naph- 
tali, (Josh. xix. 34.) given to the Levites, (1 Chron. vi. 75.) 
and probably the same called Helkath. Josh. xxi. 31. 

Humtah, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 54. 



Ibleam, a town of Manasseh, west of Jordan, given to the 
Levites : but the Canaanites were not driven out. Josh. xvii. 11. 
Judges i. 27. 2 Kings ix. 27. 1 Chron. vi. 70. 

Iconium, the capital of Lycaonia, in Asia Minor. St. Paul 
visited this place and converted many, both Jews and Gentiles, 
(Acts xiii. 51. xiv. 1.) but the Jews exciting the people 
against him and Barnabas, they were obliged to leave the 
place. A Christian church was supported here for 800 years; 
but at present not a Christian nor a Jew is suffered to reside 
within the walls of the city. It is now called Cogni, and stands 



1ND DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 179 

in a pleasant situation, on a spacious and fertile plain, 110 
miles from the Mediterranean. 

Idalah, a city of Zebulon. Josh. xix. 15. 

Idumea, the Greek name for Edom. In later times, how- 
ever, Idumea seems to have comprehended more than the 
original country of the Edomites, Mount Seir ; and probably 
advanced into the southern part of Judea, which, during the 
captivity of the Jews at Babylon, seems to have been pos- 
sessed by the neighbouring Idumeans. These, when conquered 
by the Maccabees, chose rather to embrace Judaism than to 
quit their habitations. They came to the assistance of Jeru- 
salem, when besieged by the Romans ; but did not remain 
until it was taken, having returned to their own country, load- 
ed with booty. Though they were incorporated with the 
Jewish nation, their country was long called Idumea, and still 
retained its name in the times of the New Testament, (Mark 
iii. 7, 8.) and for a considerable time afterwards. 

Iim, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 29. 

Ije-abarim, an encampment of the Israelites, (Numb. xxi. 
11. xxxiii. 44.) called in the next verse Iim. This place was 
in the east of Moab. 

Ijon, a city in the northern part of Canaan, taken by Ben- 
hadad, (1 Kings xv. 20.) thought by some to be the same as 
Hethlon. 

Illyricum, a province in the north-west of Macedonia ; ly- 
ing along the eastern coast of the Adriatic, or Gulf of Venice ; 
extending in length 480 miles, and in breadth 120. It was 
divided into two parts, Liburnia, now called Croatia, north ; 
and Dalmatia, which still retains its name, south. St. Paul 
(Rom. xv. 19.) says that he preached the gospel from Jerusa- 
lem round about to Illyricum ; meaning that he had preached 
in all the countries lying in the circuitous route between them. 
It does not appear, however, that Paul preached in Illyricum ; 
but only travelled to its borders. There are now in this coun- 
try many Christians ; it being chiefly under the Austrian go- 
vernment. 

India ; this country is mentioned in Scripture, (Esther i. 1. 
viii. 9.) " Ahasuerus reigned from India even unto Ethiopia ;" 
where it is thought to mean the country about the river Indus, 
or Hindostan. There does not appear to be any record in 
history of the Persian power ever having permanently main- 
tained itself east of the Indus. Only Alexander the Great 
ever thought of establishing a power beyond that river. Na- 



180 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. IND 

dir Shah afterwards penetrated to Delhi, but he returned from 
thence to Persia, and did not attempt to retain both regions 
under his rule. 

By India may be understood the whole of that country 
where the primitive religion and language of the Hindoos 
prevail at the present day ; including Hindostan, the stupen- 
dous mountains of Thibet, the beautiful valley of Cashmere, 
the country of Nepaul and Bootan, Siam and Ava, or the Bir- 
man Empire, &c. These countries have been inhabited, from 
the earliest antiquity, by a people who have no resemblance, 
either in their figure or manners, to any of the surrounding 
nations ; and though different conquerors have established 
themselves, at different times, in various parts of India, yet 
the aboriginal inhabitants have lost very little of their primi- 
tive character. This people, though now humbled and de- 
based, are believed to have been once eminent in arts and 
arms, happy in their government, and distinguished in various 
knowledge. 

This country was probably settled at a very early period, by 
the immediate descendants of Ham, the son of Noah. (Asia- 
tic Researches, vol. 3. p. 490.) It was the Hamites who 
founded the first monarchy of the Chaldeans, invented letters, 
observed and named the luminaries of the firmament; and 
were thence dispersed, at various intervals, and in various 
colonies, over many countries. The tribes of Misraim and 
Cush seem to have been widely extended, particularly the 
/atter, and by them Africa, and a large proportion of Asia, 
were principally peopled. The Phenicians were of this race, 
who afterwards passed into Greece and Italy, supplanting part 
of the clans who had preceded them, and uniting with others ; 
while some of this widely spread, and numerous family, who 
appear to have been the first promoters of learning and science, 
are thought to have found their way to Mexico and Peru, 
where rude traces of literature and mythology have been dis- 
covered, resembling those of Egypt and India. These facts 
corroborate Scripture prophecy. Noah foretold that the chil- 
dren of Ham should be servants of servants. (Gen. ix. 25.) 
And it may here be remarked that this passage, in some copies 
of the Scripture, reads, " Cursed be Ham, the father of Ca- 
naan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." Ac- 
cordingly, a hundred millions of this people in India, besides 
the Africans, and millions in America, are subdued and oppress- 
ed by the dominion of the Europeans. 



1ND 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



1«1 



It is generally believed that Christianity was established in 
India at a very early period. St. Bartholomew and St. Tho- 
mas are both said to have preached the gospel in this country ; 
and the venerable Pantsenus of Alexandria, who visited India 
about the year 189, found Christians there, who had the gos- 
pel of St. Matthew in Hebrew. At the council of Nice, in 
the year 325, John the primate of India was present, and sub- 
scribed his name. In the sixth century there was a seminary 
for Christians at Serinda ; and in 636 two monks went thence 
to Constantinople. In the 13th century, before the Portuguese 
had visited the country, Marco Polo and others say that Chris- 
tians were numerous in India ; and when Vasco de Gama ar- 
rived at Malabar, on the western coast, in 1503, he found 
Christian churches and a Christian king. Since that time 
little has been known respecting the Christians of India, till 
within a few years they have been visited by the learned and 
pious Dr. Buchanan, who assures us that more than 200,000 
Christians now inhabit these countries, of pure morals, enjoy- 
ing gospel ordinances, and having colleges for the instruction 
of their youth. 




Widow on the Funeral Pile of her Husband. 

The most remarkable of the cruel rites connected with the 
religion of the Hindoos, is the practice, which has existed 
from time immemorial, of burning the widow on the funeral 
pile of her dead husband. This practice, though long contm- 

Q 



£82 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. ISR 

lied and permitted by the British authorities, has lately been 
prohibited in that part of India under their jurisdiction. 

Ionia, a country in the south-west of Asia Minor ; also a 
aame sometimes given to Hellas or Achaia, from its having 
been inhabited by Ionians. See Greece ; also Javan, Part L 
p. 18. 

Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, from whom de- 
scended the Ishmaelites or Arabians. See Arabia ; also Part 
I. p. 35. 

Isles of the Gentiles, (Gen. x. 5.) the countries of Asia 
Minor and Europe. It is evident that by the word isle, in our 
translation, the Hebrews understood not only such countries 
as are surrounded by the sea ; but also such as were separated 
from them by the sea, or to which they usually went by 
water. (Isa. xi. 10, 11.) The original term in Hebrew seems 
to denote settlement, or plantation. "By these were the 
settlements of the Gentiles divided into their lands." (Gen. x. 
5.) See also, Job xxii. 30. Isa. xlii. 15. xiii. 22. 

Israelites, a people descended from Jacob or Israel ; called 

I at first Hebrews, being the descendants of Eber or Heber, 

(1 Chron. i. 18. 25.) and in later times Jews, from the tribe 
, of Judah, or rather from the kingdom of Judah, after the revolt 

of the ten tribes. After this revolt, the name Israelites was 
more appropriate to these ten tribes, who had erected a sepa- 
rate kingdom under Jeroboam, and who, in a great measure, 
abandoned themselves to idolatry and infidelity ; while the 
kingdom of Judah maintained their religion in greater purity. 
For their impiety, the Israelites were conquered and carried 
into captivity, and have long since ceased " to be reckoned 
among the nations." The tribes east of Jordan were first 
carried away by Tiglath-Pileser, A. M. 3264; and nineteen 
years after, Salmaneser took Samaria, the capital of the king- 
i dom, and carried the other tribes beyond the Euphrates, into 

Media, south of the Caspian Sea. (2 Kings xvii. 6.) It is the 
general opinion that these tribes have never returned from 
captivity. About thirty years after this, the kingdom of 
Judah was overthrown by Nebuchadnezzar, and the Jews also 
carried into captivity, to Babylon. Cyrus afterwards per- 
mitted the Jews to return to their own country, and Darius 
gave them permission to rebuild the temple. It does not ap- 
pear, however, that any considerable number of the Israelites 
ever returned; but that they were chiefly, if not all, Jews, 
(Ezra i. 5. iv. 1.) and are so called in the edict of Darius. 
Ezra vi. 7. 



ISR DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 183 

The ten tribes of Israel have been long considered as lost, 
or mingled with other nations ; but in the Asiatic Researches 
we learn that a people have recently been discovered in 
Afghanistan, or east Persia, (not very distant from the place 
where it is thought the captives were settled by Salmaneser,) 
who, it is confidently believed, are the lost ten tribes of Israel. 
A considerable district of this country is called Hazareh, or 
Hazareth, which is probably the Arsareth mentioned in 
Esdras. (See 2 Esdras xiii. 40. 45.) It is said that this peo- 
ple have traditions of their origin ; and the Persian historians, 
with whose empire they have always been connected, assert 
that the Afghans are descendants of the Hebrews. The 
names of their families, too, are distinguished by the very 
names of the Hebrew tribes, as Reuben, Simeon, &c. Their 
language, which has been examined by Mr. Vansittart, he 
says is manifestly of Hebrew origin. Dr. Buchanan, during 
his residence in India, investigated this subject, and was fully 
convinced, from many proofs which he obtained respecting 
this people, that they are the descendants of the lost Israelites. 
Among other circumstances mentioned by him, he says he 
asked the black Jews, a people in the south of India, where 
their brethren, the great body of the ten tribes, were to be 
found. They answered promptly, in the north, in the regions 
adjacent to Persia. That eminent scholar, Sir William Jones, 
whose residence in India gave him the best opportunities of 
information on this subject, has also given it as his opinion 
that the Afghans were descended from the Hebrews. St. 
Jerom, in the fifth century, writing his notes upon Hosea, has 
these words : " Unto this day the ten tribes are subject to the 
kings of Persia, nor has their captivity ever been loosed." 
Josephus recites a speech made by king Agrippa to the Jews, 
in which he exhorts them to submit to the Romans, and not 
to stretch their hopes beyond the Euphrates, that any of their 
fellow tribes might come to their aid out of Adiabene ; telling 
them that if those tribes wished to come, the Parthian king 
would not permit it. Our limits will not allow us to adduce 
other authorities, which might be easily done ; but we think 
sufficient has been said to show that the posterity of the ten 
tribes still exist in the countries to which they were carried 
in their first captivity. 

For a more particular account of the country, nation, and 
history of the ancient Israelites, the reader is referred to the 
article Judea. 



184 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JAG 






Issachar, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part L 
p. 66. 

Italy, (Acts xxvii. 6.) See Rome. 

Ithnan, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 23. 

Ittah-kazin, a town in the border of the tribe of Zebulon. 
Josh. xix. 13. 

Iturea, a province of Syria, east of the Jordan, and south 
of Trachonitis; including the country formerly under the 
dominion of the king of Bashan, afterwards called by the 
Greeks Batanea, and which was given to the half tribe of 
ManasseL Iturea is thought to have received its name from 
Jetur, or Ietur, the son of Ishmael, (Gen. xxv. 15.) who settled 
in this region, and whose posterity was driven out, or subdu- 
ed, by the Amorites, of whom Og was king in the time of 
Moses. Philip, one of Herod's sons, was tetrarch or governor 
of Iturea when John the Baptist entered upon his ministry 
Luke iii. 1. 

Ivah, (2 Kings xix. 13.) See Ava, 






J. 

Jaaean, an encampment of the Israelites in the desert 
See Bene-jaakan. 

Jaazer, a city of the Amorites. See Jazer. 

Jabbok, a brook or river, rising in the mountains of Gilead, 
and flowing westward to the Jordan, into which it empties, a 
little south of the sea of Galilee. This stream separated the 
land of the Ammonites from the kingdom of Bashan. 

Jabesh, or Jabesh-gilead, a city of Manasseh, east of Jor- 
dan, and near Mount Gilead, from which it received its name. 
Judges xxi. 8. 

Jabneel, a city in the tribe of Judah, (Josh. xv. 11.) also 
another upon the borders of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 33. 

Jabneh, a city of the Philistines, (2 Chron. xxvi. 6.) See 
Jamnia. 

Jacob's well, a well near Shechem, in the valley between 
Mounts Gerizim and Ebal. This well is still shown, and is 
sunk in a solid rock ; it is 9 feet in diameter, and 105 deep. 
Here our Saviour conversed with the woman of Samaria, 
John iv. 12. 

Jagur, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 21. 

Jahaz, or Jahaza r a city of Reuben, (Numb. xxi. 23. Deut 



XEA DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 185 

iL 32. Josh. xiii. 18.) given to the Levites, (1 Chron. vi. 78.) 
and ravaged by the Assyrians and Chaldeans. Isa. xv. 4. 

J air, (Josh. xiii. 30.) See Havoth-jair. 

Jamnia, a town on the coast of the Mediterranean, in the 
west of the tribe of Dan, between Joppa and Ashdod, thirty 
miles from Jerusalem, (1 Mace. iv. 15. v. 58. 2 Mace. xii. 8.) 
at present a village called Yebna, situated about twelve miles 
irom Jaffa or Joppa. 

Janoah, a city of Ephraim, (Josh. xvi. 6, 7.) taken and 
ruined by Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria. 2 Kings xv. 29. 

Janum, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 53. 

Japhia, a city of Galilee, in the tribe of Zebulon. Josh. 
xix. 12. 

Japhleti, a town on the borders of Ephraim and Benjamin. 
Josh. xvi. 3. 

Japho, a city in the tribe of Dan, afterwards called Joppa. 
Josh. xix. 46. 

Jarmuth, a city of Judah, ten miles south-west from 
Jerusalem ; the king of which was killed by Joshua. Josh. x. 
3. 5. xii. 11. xv. 35. Neh. xi. 29. 

Also a city of Issachar, given to the Levites, (Josh. xxi. 29.) 
otherwise called Remeth, (xix. 21.) and Ramoth. 1 Chron. 
vi. 73. 

Jattir, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 48.) given to the Levites, 
(xxi. 14.) 

Javan, one of the sons of Japheth. (Gen. x. 2.) See Part 
I. p. 18 ; also Greece. 

Jazer, a city east of Jordan, given to the tribe of Gad, and 
afterwards to the Levites. (Josh. xiii. 25. xxi. 39.) It lay at 
the foot of the mountains of Gilead, near a brook of the same 
name which falls into the Arnon. Eusebius and Jerom say 
it was 15 miles from Heshbon, and a little south of Ramoth 
Gilead, at the head of a large river which fell into the Jor- 
dan, probably the Arnon. The Sea of Jazer, mentioned Jer. 
xlviii. 32. was a lake or pond near the head of that river, and 
not far from the town called Jazer. The Hebrews frequently 
called all considerable waters, such as rivers, lakes, and 
ponds, by the name of seas. 

Jearim, a mount in the borders of Judah and Benjamin, 
(Josh. xv. 10.) probably that on which the city of Kirjath- 
jearim was built. 

Jebus, an ancient city of Canaan, called afterwards Jerusa- 
lem. (Josh. x. xv. 8. Judges xix. 10, &c.) See Jerusalem. 
Q2 



186 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JER 




Jebusites, a people descended from Jebus, the son of Ca- 
naan. See Part I. p. 27. 

Jehoshaphat, valley of called also the Valley of KidroTU 
because the brook Kidron runs through it ; a valley east of 
Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives. 

Jehud, a city in the tribe of Dan. Josh. xix. 45. 

Jerahmeemtes, a people mentioned in 1 Sam. xxvii. 10 
probably inhabiting part of Arabia, south of Juclah. 

Jericho, a city of Canaan frequently mentioned in Scrip- 
ture. See Fart I. p. 55 

Jeri salem, Jebus, or Salem, the capital of Judea ; a very 
famous and ancient city, founded, according to Manetho, by 
the shepherds who invaded Egypt at a remote period of 
antiquity. According to Josephus, it was the capital of Mel- 
chizedek's kingdom, which is called Salem in the book of 
Genesis. Some suppose it to have been founded by Melchi- 
zedek, about the year of the world 2023, who called it Salem, 
which signifies peace. It was afterwards taken by the Jebu- 
sites, the descendants of Jebus, a son of Canaan. They 
erected a fortress on Mount Zion, to which they gave the 
name of Jebus, their father, the whole city being then called 
Jerusalem, which signifies vision of peace. Adoni-bezek, the 
king of the Jebusites, and the most powerful of the Canaanite 
kings, was defeated and killed by Joshua, who destroyed 
many of the people, (Josh, x.) but it does not appear that he 
took the city, or any part of it. Shortly after his death, how- 
ever, it was taken and burnt by the children of Judah ; 
(Judges i. 8.) but this could only have been the lower part of 
the city, as we read immediately afterwards that the Benja- 
mites, to whom the city was allotted, " did not drive out the 
Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem," who continued to retain 
possession of the upper town, or citadel of Jebus, for 400 
years after, when they were driven out by David, who repair- 
ed the whole city, and built a new one on Mount Zion, on the 
site of the fort of the Jebusites, which he called the city of 
David. 2 Sam. v. 1 Chron. xi. 

During the reigns of David and Solomon, this city was the 
metropolis of the kingdom, and continued to increase in wealth 
and splendour. At festivals it was the resort of the whole 
population of the country ; and by the power and commercial 
spirit of Solomon, it was made the centre of most of the 
eastern trade through the ports on the Red Sea, and over 
Land by the way of Tadmor and Palmyra. Some idea of its 



I 
I 



JER DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 187 

prodigious wealth at this time may be formed from the fact, 
that the quantity of gold left by David for the use of the 
temple amounted to the value of one hundred millions of dol- 
lars, besides fourteen millions in silver ; and Solomon obtained 
14^ millions in gold, by one voyage to Ophir, while silver 
was so abundant " that it was not any thing accounted of." 
These were the days of Jerusalem's glory, when universa. 
peace, unmeasured wealth, the wisdom and clemency of the 
prince, and the worship of the- true God, marked it above 
every other city, as enjoying the presence and the especial 
favour of the Almighty. 

But these days were soon to have an end. After the death 
of Solomon, ten of the twelve tribes revolted from his suc- 
cessor Rehoboam, and established a separate kingdom under 
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat ; so that Jerusalem, no longer the 
capital of the whole empire, and its temple frequented by the 
tribes of Judah and Benjamin alone, must have suffered a 
mournful declension. Four years after this, the city and 
temple were taken and plundered by Shishak, king of Egypt 
(1 Kings xiv. 26. 2 Chron. xiii. 2. 9.) One hundred and 
forty-five years after this, in the reign of Amaziah, the city 
was again taken by Joash, king of Israel. (2 Kings xiv. 
2 Chron. xxv.) Jerusalem was again taken, one hundred and 
sixty years afterwards, by Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who 
carried away Manasseh, the king of Judah, a prisoner to 
Babylon. (2 Chron. xxxiii.) Within the space of sixty-six 
years more, it was taken by Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, 
who killed king Josiah in a battle at Megiddo. (2 Kings 
xxiii. 29.) Jerusalem was three times besieged and taken by 
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, within a few years. The 
first in the reign of king Jehoiakim, (2 Chron. xxxvi. 6.) the 
second in the reign of his son Jehoiachin, (verse 10.) and the 
third in the reign of his successor, Zedekiah, (verse 17.) 
This last was the most formidable and disastrous siege which 
Jerusalem had ever experienced. The Chaldean army enter- 
ed the city, took away every thing that was valuable, and 
then burnt and destroyed it, with its temple and walls, and 
left the whole razed to the ground. The whole population 
of the city and country, except a few husbandmen, were then 
carried captive to Babylon. 2 Kings xxv. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 
17. 20. 

Thus ended the kingdom of Judah ; and at this time com- 
mences the 70 years of captivity, foretold by Jeremiah. Dux- 



188 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JER 



ing these 70 years, the city and temple lay in ruins; when 
some Jews, taking advantage of the proclamation of Cyrus, 
returned to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, and began to build 
the temple ; the sacred vessels belonging to which, that had 
been taken away by Nebuchadnezzar, being restored by 
Cyrus. Not much was done, however, being opposed by the 
Samaritans, (Ezra iv. 6.) in the reign of Cambyses, the son of 
Cyrus, who is called Ahasuerus in Scripture; and finally 
stopped by a decree of Smerdis, called in Scripture Artaxerxes, 
his successor. (Ezra iv. 7 to the end.) The temple con- 
sequently remained in an unfinished state until the second or 
third year of Darius Hystaspes, who, having found i copy of 
the decree of Cyrus among the Median records at Achmetha, 
issued a similar one ; and even ordered the opposing Samari- 
tans to assist in the work. The temple was thus finished in 
the sixth year of his reign. (Ezra iv. v. vi.) The city and 
walls, however, remained in a ruinous condition till the 
twentieth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, who sent Nehe- 
miah to Jerusalem, with power to rebuild the walls, which 
was done, with incredible labour, notwithstanding the hostile 
attacks of the Samaritans, in fifty-two days, in the year 445 
before Christ ; after which the city itself was gradually rebuilt. 
Nehem. ii. iv. vi. 

Jerusalem remained attached to the Persian empire, but 
under the local jurisdiction of the High Priests, until that 
empire was overthrown by Alexander, 14 years after. This 
extraordinary conqueror visited Jerusalem himself, and not- 
withstanding the usual machinations of the Samaritans, show- 
ed great favour to the Jews, and particularly to the High 
Priests, granting them an exemption from tribute every Sab- 
batical year. At the death of Alexander, on the division of 
his empire among his generals, Jerusalem, with Judea, fell to 
the kings of Syria ; and in the frequent wars which followed 
between them and the kings of Egypt, belonged occasionally 
to both parties. This unsettled state introduced disorder and 
corruption ; the high priesthood was openly sold to the highest 
bidder, and numbers of the Jews deserted their religion for 
the idolatries of the Greeks. In the year 170 before Christ, 
Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria, plundered the city, and 
killed 80,000 of the Jews. He endeavoured to abolish their 
religion also, and published an edict requiring all the people 
in his dominions to conform to the religion of the Greeks ; in 
consequence of which the service of the temple ceased, and a 



JER DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 189 

statue of Jupiter Olympus was set up on the altar. This, as 
might have been expected, led to rebellion ; those Jews who 
still held their insulted religion in reverence, fled to the 
mountains with Mattathias and Judas Maccabeus ; under the 
latter of whom they defeated the armies of Antiochus, again 
obtained possession of Jerusalem, purified the temple, and 
restored the service after three years defilement by the 
Gentile idolatries. The succeeding Maccabees ruled as high 
priests, without the title of king ; having frequent contests 
with the Syrians, until, in the year 130 before Christ, Hyr- 
canus rendered the Jews independent. His successor, Judas, 
took the title of king, which continued with his successors 47 
years, until the city and temple were taken by the Romans 
under Pompey, and Judea made a Roman province, in the 
year 63, B. C. 

Jerusalem did not long after this enjoy the dignity of a 
metropolis ; for Herod, who governed Judea under the Romans 
with the title of king, removed the seat of government to 
Csesarea, where it was continued by the succeeding Roman 
governors. The Jews having become turbulent, and im- 
patient of the Roman authority, in the year A. D. 66, rose on 
their rulers and killed the Roman garrison in Jerusalem. 
When this was known at Rome, Vespasian was appointed by 
the emperor Nero, governor of Syria, and general of the army 
destined to act against Jerusalem. Having reduced the 
greater part of the country to obedience, he was preparing to 
attack the city, when his operations were suspended by the 
death of Nero, and the dissensions which followed in the 
empire. Vespasian himself having been declared emperor, 
gave the command of the army in Judea to his son Titus, who 
invested Jerusalem near the time of the Passover, or about 
the beginning of April, in the year 70. At this time of the 
great festival the city was crowded to excess, and being torn 
by different contending factions, and a prey to civil war 
within its own walls, its downfall was hastened by its own 
inhabitants, who, instead of uniting against the common 
enemy, mercilessly destroyed each other, and made wanton 
destruction of the provisions which might have enabled them 
to protract the defence. Before the termination of the siege 
they were reduced to such distress from famine, that, accord- 
ing to Josephus, a rich and noble lady was driven by hunger 
to kill and eat her own child. In order to prevent supplies 
from being brought into the city, as well as to cut off 9.U 



190 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JER 







possibility of escape, Titus surrounded it with a wall, which 
was built by the exertions of his whole army in three days. 
The city was finally taken by assault on the 17th day of July, 
when a dreadful carnage followed, and the city and temple 
were burnt and razed to the ground. The number of those who 
perished in this siege is computed by Josephus at 1,100,000, 
besides many thousands killed in other parts of the country 
during the same war. 

After this, Jerusalem lay in ruins about 47 years, when the 
emperor iElius Adrian began to build it anew ; erecting a 
heathen temple, which he dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus. 
{See the medals at the end of this article.) The city was 
finished in the 20th year of his reign ; and was named JSlia 
Capitolina, from its founder, and the heathen deity who pre- 
sided over it. The Jews, having again rebelled, were again 
subdued, and the city once more nearly destroyed ; it was, 
however, restored by Adrian, who, enraged at the unconquer- 
able spirit of the Jews, forbade them on pain of death ever to 
enter it, and to show his detestation of them, he pkced the 
marble statue of a hog over the gate leading to Bethlehem. 
Jerusalem continued under the name of iElia, inhabited more 
by Christians and Pagans, than by Jews, till the time of ths 
emperor Constantine, who about the year 323 much improved 
the city, restored its ancient name, and adorned it with many 
new edifices and churches. 

The emperor Julian, commonly called the apostate, having 
abjured the Christian religion, and with the avowed design of 
defeating the prophecies which had declared that the temple 
should not be rebuilt, invited the Jews to return to the city, 
promising to restore their temple and nation. Great numbers 
of workmen were employed to clear the foundations ; but they 
were soon obliged to desist by balls of fire which broke from 
the earth, with earthquakes, whirlwinds, and other terrific 
and supernatural phenomena. The truth of this miraculous 
mterposition of Providence, is attested by many credible wit- 
nesses and historians, heathens and Jews, as well as Christians. 

In the beginning of the 7th century, Jerusalem was taken 
and plundered by Chosroes, king of Persia, by whom many 
thousands of the Christian inhabitants were killed, or sold for 
slaves. It was soon retaken by the emperor Heraclius, and 
restored to the Christians; the Jews being forbidden to come 
within three miles of it. Not long after this the Caliph Omar, 
the third from Mahomet, invested the city, which, after once 



JER DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 191 

more suffering the horrors of a protracted siege, surrendered 
on terms of capitulation in the year 637. Omar religiously 
observed the terms of the treaty, and allowed the Christians 
the use of their churches ; only requesting to be shown a place 
where he might build a mosque. The patriarch showed him 
the site of the temple, which, out of hatred to the Jews, had 
been used by the Christians as a receptacle for the filth of the 
town. This was cleared away, and a mosque was erected 
by Omar, which has stood to the present time, and is reckoned 
the first in size and magnificence, and the second in sanctity, 
of all in the Mahometan dominions. From the Saracens of 
Arabia, Jerusalem was taken by the Turks, and again from 
them by the Saracens of Egypt. 

In the year 1099, it again passed into the hands of the 
Christians, being taken by the Crusaders under Godfrey of 
Bouillon, who made a general massacre of the inhabitants ; 
70,000 of whom were killed with the sword ; and the Jews, 
equally the object of the pious hatred of the crusaders, were 
collected together and burnt. Godfrey was chosen king of 
Jerusalem, which was held by the Christians 88 years ; and 
then surrendered to Saladin, the sultan of Egypt, who per- 
mitted the Christians to ransom their lives. About 40 years 
after this, it was given up to the emperor Frederic IL, on con- 
dition that the walls should not be rebuilt, and that the 
mosques should be reserved for the use of the Mussulmans. 
The Christians soon after rose upon the Mahometans ; which 
quickly brought the exasperated sultan upon them, who killed 
great numbers, and razed this unfortunate city once more to 
the ground. About 50 years after this, the western Christians, 
who had continued to hold the maritime parts of Palestine, 
with Acre for their capital, were totally and finally expelled 
from the Holy Land by the sultan Khalil. Jerusalem was 
next transferred to the Mamelukes, or foreign slaves and sol- 
diers of the Egyptian sultans ; who had risen on their masters 
and usurped the government. The city remained in their 
possession, in a desolate and half-ruined state, about 260 years, 
when the Mameluke power fell before that of Othman, or 
Ottoman Turks, in whose possession it has continued to the 
present time, a prey to the tyranny of that nation. 

Jerusalem in its most flourishing state, was four miles and 
a half in circumference, and was divided into four parts, each 
inclosed with its own walls. 

Of the public edifices of this city, the temple claims our 



192 



SCRIPTXJRE GEOGRAPHY. 



JER 



chief notice. The original temple, or that built by Solomon, 
is particularly described in the Olu Testament. It was seven 
years and six months in building, and was dedicated with 
peculiar solemnity to the worship of the Most High, in the 
year of the world 3001, before Christ 1003. It retained its 
original splendour only 33 or 34 years ; when Shishak, king 
of Egypt, took Jerusalem and carried away the treasures oi 
the temple : and after undergoing subsequent profanations and 
pillages, this stupendous building was finally plundered and 
burnt by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar in the year of 
the world 3416. 2 Kings xxv. 13-15. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17-20. 

After the captivity, the temple emerged from its ruins, 
being rebuilt by Zerubbabel, but with vastly inferior and 
diminished glory ; as appears from the tears of the aged men 
who had beheld the former structure in all its grandeur. 
(Ezra iii. 12.) The second temple was profaned by Antiochus 
Epiphanes, B. C. 163, who caused the daily sacrifice to be dis- 
continued, and erected the image of Jupiter Olympus on the 
altar of burnt-offering. Three years after, it was purified by 
Judas Maccabeus, who restored the true worship of Jehovah. 

Some years before the birth of Christ, the repairing, or 
gradual rebuilding of this second temple was undertaken by 
Herod, who for nine years employed 18,000 workmen upon 
it, and spared no expense in its adornment. The Jews con- 
tinued for some years to ornament and enlarge -it ; so that 
they might assert with propriety that this temple had been 
forty-and-six years in building. John ii. 20. 

The temple itself, strictly so called, (which comprised the 
portico, the sanctuary, and the holy of holies,) formed only a 
small part of the sacred edifice on Mount Moriah, being sur- 
rounded by spacious courts, making a square of half a mile in 
rrcumference. It was entered through nine gates, which 
t/ere on every side thickly coated with gold and silver ; but 
.here was one gate of surpassing beauty, made of Corinthian 
Trass, the most precious metal in ancient times. It was also 
nuch larger than the others ; and its ornaments far more 
costly and massive. This is supposed to have been the " gate 
called beautiful," mentioned in Acts iii. 2. The inner temple, 
or sanctuary, was covered on every side with plates of gold ; 
so that when the sun rose upon it, it reflected so strong 
and dazzling an effulgence, that the eye of the spectator 
was obliged to turn away, being no more able to sustain its 
radiance than the splendour of the sun. To strangers who 



JER DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 193 

were approaching, it appeared at a distance like a mountain 
covered with snow, for where it was not decorated with plates 
of gold, it was extremely white and glistening. On the top 
it had sharp pointed spikes of gold, to prevent any bird from 
resting upon it, and polluting it. There were in this build- 
ing, stones which were 45 cubits in length, 5 in height, and 
6 in breadth. Yet fully was the prediction of our Lord veri- 
fied ; for in the short space of about 30 years after he spoke, 
this most magnificent temple, which the Jews had literally 
turned into a den of thieves, was, through the righteous judg- 
ment of God upon that wicked and abandoned nation, utterly 
destroyed by the Romans, in the same month, and on the 
same day of the month, when Solomon's temple had been 
razed to the ground by the Babylonians, 657 years before ! It 
is said that Titus wished to save the temple, and had given 
orders to that effect. But it was necessary for the fulfilment 
of prophecy, that his orders should not be obeyed ; and a sol- 
dier, in the midst of the horror and confusion of such a time, 
set fire to it ; when 6000 men, women, and children, who had 
been led to seek security there by the assurances of a false 
prophet, perished in the flames, or in attempting to leap from 
the burning edifice. Titus himself afterwards ordered the 
very foundations to be dug up ; so literally was the prediction 
of our Saviour verified, that not one stone of that stupendous 
pile should be left standing on another. Mark xiii. 2. 

The most remarkable antiquities yet shown in Jerusalem, 
and its neighbourhood, are the pools of Bethesda and Gihon ; 
the tomb of the Virgin Mary, in the valley of Jehoshaphat ; 
the tomb of king Jehoshaphat ; Absalom's pillar ; the tomb of 
Zachariah ; and the royal sepulchres, which are evidently of 
very great antiquity, and are cut out of the solid rock ; but it 
is not agreed what kings were buried here. Of the church 
of the Holy Sepulchre, we have spoken in the article Calvary, 
and other interesting antiquities of the neighbourhood will 
be found described in their proper places. 

Jerusalem, called universally in Egypt and Syria El Kouds, 
the holy city, is built upon high rocky ground, and, as seen 
from Mount Olivet, the modern city presents an inclined 
plane, descending from west to east. It is inclosed by a high 
wall, fortified with towers ; and towards the west, and in the 
centre of the city, the houses are numerous and closely built ; 
but towards the east, large vacancies are observed. The 
houses are mostly low, generally only one story high, without 
R 



194 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JER 



chimneys, and having flat roofs of stone, containing cisterns to 
preserve the rain-water, which is collected for use, the city 
containing neither wells, fountains, nor streams. The streets 
are narrow and crooked, without pavements, full of loose stones 
and abrupt declivities. The shops are few and mean, indi- 




^7»3Eplti»ai:ali 



Plan of Jerusalem and its environs. 

A. Temple on Mount Moriah. B. Zion, or city of David. C. Salem, 
the Lower Town. D. Bezeta, or the New Town. 

eating the poverty of the inhabitants, and the oppression of 
their Turkish masters. The population of Jerusalem is esti- 
mated to be : Mahometans 13,000, Jews 4000, and Christians 
of various denominations 3000. 






JER 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



195 



The Jews, the legitimate masters of Judea, are now as 
slaves and strangers in their own land ; yet still awaiting, 
under this most cruel and despotic government, a king who is 
to work their deliverance. Six times have they witnessed 
the destruction of Jerusalem, yet still they are not discouraged 
— still their looks are turned upon Zion, from which nothing 
can divert them. Near that temple, of which there does not 
remain one stone upon another, they yet continue to dwell ; 
and while the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans, have 
disappeared from the face of the earth, this small people, 
whose origin is much more ancient than that of these mighty 
nations, still survive amidst the ruins of their country, with 
no alteration of manners, and no mixture of foreign blood. 

The Christians, though also pillaged and oppressed, and 
their lives constantly in danger, yet linger around the Holy 
Sepulchre, -and the scenes made sacred by the presence and 
miracles of the Saviour of the world. From the tomb of that 
Saviour, neither the menaces of death, nor indignities, nor 
robberies of every description, can drive them; and their 
hymns and prayers resound night and day about that spot 
where Jesus Christ suffered for the salvation of man. 

This city, though decayed and " trodden down by the Gen- 
tiles," will always be interesting to the believer in revelation. 
Here his fond, delighted imagination will be fixed, not only 
on account of the splendid scenes of Old Testament history ; 
not only because here the Son of God accomplished the work 
of human redemption ; not only because the spark was here 
kindled which shall enlighten all nations ; — but because here 
a constellation of prophecies have been fulfilled, in such a 
manner as to carry conviction to every candid and unpreju- 
diced mind, of the solemn and sublime truths of Divine reve- 
lation. 







196 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JEZ 









No. 1. This medal of Jerusalem, proves the truth of those histories 
which inform us that the city, after being destroyed by the Romans 
under Titus, was rebuilt by Hadrian, and formed into a colony. The 
medal has the head of Hadrian on one side ; on the other a colonist 
driving oxen, which was the usual type of a colony, with a military 
ensign, and the inscription col. ael. capit. cond. implying that Ha- 
drian was the conditor, founder, or re-establisher of the colony of j&lia 
Capitolina, or Jerusalem. This is probably one of the first medals 
struck on this occasion. 




We are told in the life of Hadrian by Xiphylinus, that he built a 
temple to Jupiter, in the very spot where the temple of God had stood ; 
and he made the Jews pay to this temple the same contributions as 
they had been accustomed to pay yearly to their temple. No. 2. represents 
Jupiter sitting in this temple, conversing with Minerva, and attended 
by the female genius of the place, or by Juno. 

No. 3. A head of Serapis. As this deity w T as the principal God of 
Egypt, he is supposed to have been brought from thence, arid worship- 
ped at Jerusalem. 







No. 4. Ashtaroth, or Astarte, was among the idols of Syria ; and this 
medal proves that she was also worshipped in Jerusalem, She holds in 



JOP DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 197 

aer left hand a staff, in her right a human head, and treads on a figure 
,ymg down. Comm. on this medal, signifies Commodiana : it is a coin 
of Severus. 

No. 5. A coin of Hostilianus, with a figure standing, a blunt spear in 
lus right hand, and a human head in his left. The caduceus behind 
aim, as well as the general character, denotes this to be Mercury. 

There were then in Jerusalem temples to Jupiter, Serapis, Astarte, 
and Mercury ; and, as is shown by other medals, to the &un, to Bac- 
chus, Minerva, and Juno. These profanations are surely proofs tha 
superstition and idolatry succeeded the worship of God in this once 
holy city, and that it was indeed " trodden down by the Gentiles." 

Jeshana, the name of a place, (2 Chron. xiii. 19.) probably 
the same, afterwards called Zin, which Eusebius and Jerom 
say was seven miles north of Jericho. 

Jeshimon, a place in the tribe of Judah. 1 Sam. xxiii. 24. 

Jethlah, a city of Dan. Josh. xix. 42. 

Jezreel, a noted city, since called Esdraelon, situated in a 
plain or valley of the same name, on the borders of Manasseh 
and Issachar. Josh. xix. 18. 1 Kings xviii. 46, &c. 

Also a city in Judah. Josh. xv. 56. 1 Sam. xxix. 1. 

Jiphtah, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 43. 

Jiphthah-el, a valley in the tribe of Zebulon. Josh. xix. 14. 

Jogbeha, a city of Gad. Numb, xxxii. 35. 

Jokdeam, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 56. 

Jokmeam, a city of Ephraim, given to the Levites. 1 Chron. 
vi. 68. 

Jokneam, a city of Zebulon, given to the Levites, (Josh, 
xxi. 34. xix. 11.) the same as Jokneam of Carmel, (Josh. xii. 
22.) so called from being near Mount Carmel. 

Joktheel, a city of Judah. (Josh. xv. 38.) Also a place 
taken by Amaziah, king of Judah, from the Edomites : sup- 
posed by Eusebius and others to be the city, afterwards called 
Petrea, the capital of Arabia Petrea. The city, before its cap- 
ture, was called Selah, which word means in Hebrew a rock, 
the same as Petra in Greek. 2 Kings xiv. 7. 

Joppa, a sea-port town in the west of Canaan, lying near 
the boundary between Dan and Ephraim, south of Ccesarea. 
It was anciently the only port to Jerusalem ; whence the ma- 
terials sent from Tyre for building the temple of Solomon, 
were landed here. (2 Chron. ii. 16.) It is a very ancient city, 
and was formerly called Japho, Josh. xix. 46.) being, accord- 
ing to tradition, and the fables of ancient authors, built before 
the deluge. Its modern name is Jaffa : it is well fortified, and 
k inhabited by Turks and Arabs, with a mixture of Greeks, 
2R 




198 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JOR 



Maronites, and Armenians. The houses are small, and sur- 
rounded with ruins of ancient walls and towers. The Franks, 
Greeks, and Armenians, have each of them houses here, for 
the reception of pilgrims who land at this place ; where they 
have to pay for permission to visit the Holy Land. This money 
is partly sent to Mecca, and partly to Constantinople. 

Jaffa was laid waste in the crusades, and afterwards de- 
stroyed by an earthquake ; but it is now somewhat recovered, 
and that part near the sea is adorned with handsome houses 
of stone. The town carries on a considerable trade in soap 
and rice, and has a population of about 1500. It was taken 
by the French army of Egypt, under Bonaparte, in 1797, and 
retained forty days. 

Jordan, the largest and most celebrated river in the Land 
of Canaan, and very frequently mentioned in Scripture. It 
rises in the mountains of Lebanon, in the northern extremity 
of Canaan, and after running 16 or 18 miles, spreads out in a 
flat marshy place, forming the lake Semechon, called in Scrip- 
ture the waters of Merom. After leaving this lake, and run- 
ning about 15 miles further, it enters the sea of Galilee, or 
Tiberias, from the southern end of which it again issues, and 
after a course, still south, of about 150 miles further, it final- 
ly empties into the Dead Sea. 

Below the Sea of Galilee, the river is generally 20 or 30 
yards wide, and is described by travellers to be deep and 
rapid. The water is turbid, but wholesome. On both sides 
along the Jordan, there is a great plain or valley, which ex- 
tends from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. Josephus 
says this plain is 150 miles long, and 15 wide. Though this 
river anciently overflowed its banks in the spring, when the 
snows were melting on Mount Lebanon, yet it seems evident, 
from the accounts of modern travellers, that these floods are 
now less, and more rare. This may have arisen, in some 
measure, from the channel having worn deeper. The banks 
of the river are in many places covered with trees and reeds, 
under which the lions and other wild beasts hide ; and from 
whence they are driven by the rise of the waters. There is 
an allusion to this, in Jer. xlix. 19. 

The regular passages over Jordan were, 1. Jacob's bridge, 
between lakes Semechon and Gennesareth ; a stone bridge, 
with three arches, supposed to be more ancient than the days 
of that patriarch. 2. A bridge at the issue of the river from 
the Lake of Gennesareth. S. Bethabara, rather a ferry than 



JUD DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 199 

a bridge. (2 Sam. xix. 18.) It is also probable there was an- 
other at Bethshan, or Scythopolis. 

Jotbah, a city of Judah, the native place of the mother of 
Amon, king of Judah. 2 Kings xxi. 19. 

Jotbathah, an encampment of the Israelites, between 
Horhagidgad and Ebronah. Numb, xxxiii. 33. 

Judah, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part I. p 
63. 

Judea ; this name was originally applied only to the terri- 
tory belonging to the tribe of Judah ; but after the revolt of 
the ten tribes, under Rehoboam, when Judah and Benjamin 
were united in the same government, the name of Judah or 
Judea was applied to both territories. Afterwards, when the 
ten tribes had been carried into captivity, and Judah seemed 
of course to possess the vacant territories of Simeon, and 
Dan, all the southern part of the country was called Judea. 
Finally, after the captivity and return of Judah from Babylon, 
the name was extended to nearly the whole of the Holy Land ; 
and is used at present, something like the term Palestine, in- 
definitely denoting either Judea proper, or the whole of the 
country formerly inhabited by the Jews. 

We have given in Part I. and under the article Canaan, 
an account of the situation and boundaries of this country, as 
well as its general history up to the time of its division 
among the twelve tribes under Joshua. This division, the whole 
being united under one government, continued during the 
times of the judges and kings, a period of 475 years ; until 
the revolt of ten of the twelve tribes from the authority of 
Rehoboam, and the establishment of a separate kingdom 
under Jeroboam. From this time Judea was divided into two 
kingdoms : that of Judah, consisting of the tribes of Judah 
and Benjamin, in the southern part, of which Jerusalem was 
the capital ; and that of Israel, consisting of all the other 
tribes, in the middle and north, of which Samaria (after the 
time of Omri, the sixth king) was the capital. The two 
kingdoms existed together about 250 years ; when in the year 
721 before Christ, Samaria was taken, after a siege of three 
years, by Salmaneser, and most of the Israelites, who had 
escaped slaughter, were carried captive into Assyria. The 
kingdom of Judah continued 133 years longer ; when Jerusa- 
lem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, 588 B. C., the temple 
Durnt, and Zedekiah the king, with the greater number of his 
subjects, were carried in captivity to Babylon. 



200 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JUD 



E 



Judea now remained a desolate appendage of the Bay Ionian 
empire, until the subversion of that power by Cyrus of Per- 
sia, 537 B. C, who, in the first year of his reign, issued an 
edict, empowering the Jews to return to their own country 
to rebuild their city and temple, and to live once more under 
their own religion and laws. In the following year, part of 
the Jews returned under Zerubbabel, and renewed their sac- 
rifices ; but the building of the city and temple, was for several 
years interrupted by the treachery of the Samaritans. This 
eople, made up of the eastern colonies which Esarhaddon 
ad transplanted into the vacant cities of Israel, livmg under 
Assyrian or Persian governors, and who had engrailed Juda- 
ism upon Paganism, conceived a deadly hatred to the Jews ; 
which was heightened in the present instance by a jealousy 
of the political existence of the Jews so near them. They 
accordingly used every means of opposition in their power ; 
but by the prudence of the Jewish rulers, and the favour of 
Darius Hystaspes, who saw through the misrepresentation 
and craft of the Samaritans, all opposition was surmounted ; 
and the Samaritans were punished by being made to serve 
the very people they had endeavoured to supplant. The tem- 
ple was completed 26 years after the decree of Cyrus : but 
the Jews had yet but partially returned, and their affairs were 
in a very unsettled state, until the year 458 B. C, when Ezra, 
and afterwards Nehemiah, were sent by Artaxerxes as gov- 
ernors of the Jews ; and under whom the walls of Jerusalem 
were rebuilt, and the affairs of both church and state, happily 
settled. 

From this time the Jews enjoyed, during a period of near 
300 years, almost uninterrupted prosperity ; — governed by 
their high priests, although subject to the kings of Persia, 
until the overthrow of that empire by Alexander. They were 
afterwards subject to the kings of Syria, until Antiochus Epi- 
phanes commenced his persecutions against them; when, 
under the conduct of Mattathias and his son Judas, surnamed 
Maccabeus, they took up arms against their oppressors ; and 
after a religious war of 26 years, with live successive 
kings of Syria, they succeeded in establishing the indepen- 
dence of their country, and the sovereignty of the family 
of Mattathias. The princes of this family, generally called 
Asmoneans, from Asmoneus the father of Mattathias, united 
the royal and priestly dignity in their own persons, and 
administered the affairs of the Jews during a period of 



JUD DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 201 

126 years, until a dispute arising between Hyrcanus II. and 
his brother Aristobulus, the Romans, under Pompey, seized 
the opportunity of reducing Judea to the condition of a pro- 
vince of the empire. Julius Caesar, having defeated Pompey, 
continued Hyrcanus in the high priesthood; but made Anti- 
pater, an Idumean, prefect or governor of Judea. Antipater, 
at his death, divided the country between his two sons, Pha- 
sael and Herod ; giving to the former the government of 
Jerusalem and Judea proper, and to the latter that of Galilee. 
Shortly after, Judea was invaded by the Parthians, then rising 
into a formidable power, and contending with the Romans for 
the empire of the east. Both Hyrcanus and Phasael were 
taken prisoners by this people ; but Herod, having escaped, 
went to Rome, where he was made by Mark Antony, with 
the consent of the senate, sole ruler of Judea, including Gal- 
ilee, with the title of king. During his long reign, Judea 
rose into some degree of importance ; but the people groaned 
under the most arbitrary despotism. He adorned the princi- 
pal towns with magnificent buildings, and his treasures were 
lavished with much show of liberality ; but this was at the 
expense of his wretched subjects, whose lives and fortunes 
were at his disposal. After enduring this oppression 37 years, 
they were released by the death of this tyrant, who has been 
misnamed the Great. 

It was during the reign of Herod, that our Saviour, Jesus 
Christ, was born at Bethlehem; his parents having gone 
thither from Nazareth to be taxed, that is, to be enrolled in 
the general census for the payment of a capitation tax ; ac- 
cording to a law instituted by Servius Tullius, the sixth king 
of Rome, which required an enrolment of every inhabitant 
of the empire, with their quality, employment, wives, chil- 
dren and estates. Herod, hearing of the extraordinary birth 
at Bethlehem, and knowing that the Jews expected a de- 
liverer about this time, felt jealous or apprehensive of the 
security of his throne, and issued a decree for the indiscrimi- 
nate slaughter of the whole infant population of Bethlehem ; 
not doubting that the expected prince of the Jews would fall 
in the general massacre. But our Lord was preserved by the 
flight of his parents into Egypt, where they remained until 
the death of the king. 

The dominions of Herod were divided among his three 
sons, Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip. To Archelaus, he left 
Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, with the title of king ; to Anti. 



202 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JUT, 



pas, Galilee and Perea, with the title of tetrarch ; and to 
Philip, Trachelitis, Gaulonitis, and Batanea, also with the 
title of tetrarch. The reign of Archelaus was turbulent ; 
and was troublesome to the Romans from frequent insurrec- 
tion of the Jews ; at length complaints having been made 
against him of mal-administration, he was deposed and ban- 
ished by the Romans ; his territories being annexed to the 
province of Syria. It was Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, 
surnamed Herod after his father, who beheaded John the 
Baptist to please the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had 
married, and for which unlawful and incestuous connexion, 
the intrepid Baptist had boldly reproached him. It was this 
Herod, also, who laid snares for our Saviour, (Luke xiii.) 
He was afterwards banished by the Romans for aspiring to 
the regal dignity. After this the government of Judea and 
some of the adjoining provinces was given to Agrippa the 
elder, or Herod Agrippa, who was a son of Aristobulus, the 
son of Herod the Great. This Herod Agrippa became sole 
king of the Jews, and reigned over a greater extent of terri- 
tory than his grandfather, Herod the Great, had clone. He 
died at Csesarea in the manner related in Acts xii. (which is 
confirmed by Josephus) in the seventh year of his reign. 
This is the Agrippa, or " Herod the king" as he is called in 
the same chapter, who put to death the apostle James, and 
intended that of Peter. It was before the younger Agrippa, 
son of the preceding Herod Agrippa, that St. Paul delivered 
his eloquent defence, which almost persuaded the king to be- 
come a Christian. (Acts xxvi.) He was king only of some 
of the northern and eastern provinces ; the rest of Judea re- 
maining still under the government of the Roman procurator. 
It was governed only for a short time by Herod Agrippa, who 
took the administration of affairs upon the recall to Rome, 
and subsequent banishment of Pontius Pilate. The next 
procurator or governor after this Agrippa, was Antonius Fe- 
lix, before whom Paul spoke, (Acts xxiv.) ; and who was suc- 
ceeded by Porcius Festus, before whom Paul (whose cause 
had been left undecided by Felix) again defended himself. 
The younger Agrippa was present at this defence, and joined 
Festus in declaring that he had done nothing worthy of 
death or of bonds. (Acts xxv.) Festus died in Judea, about 
A. D. 62, and was succeeded by Albinus. After him came 
Gessius Florus, a cruel and avaricious governor, under whose 
mal-administration the Jews, driven to desperation, took up 



JUD DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 203 

arms against the Romans, and commenced that war which 
terminated in the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and the 
extinction of their own existence as a nation, in the year 70, 
A.D. * 

To these events— the destruction of Jerusalem, the final 
subversion of the Jewish nation, the dispersion of the people, 
and the long-continued devastation of the land which was to 
follow — so many well-known prophecies relate, that it must 
oe quite unnecessary to cite them. 

From the time of its last invasion by the Romans, Judea, 
inhabited almost entirely by Christians and Pagans, continued 
a part of the Roman empire until the year 637 ; when the 
Saracens, under their caliph Omar, having rapidly overrun 
the greater part of the east, invaded Judea, and held it till 
1079, when they were driven out by the Seljukian Turks ; 
who in their turn were expelled by the armies of the Crusa- 
ders, who, assembling in countless numbers from almost every 
nation in Europe, soon overspread the country, and converted 
it from a Mahometan to a Christian state, with a king at its 
head, the first of whom was Godfrey of Bouillon. The Cru- 
saders held possession of Judea about 90 years, from 1099 to 
1186 ; during which time a regular church establishment was 
instituted, consisting of a patriarch, with many archbishops; 
and priories, abbeys, convents and nunneries, of different 
orders, without number. These different religious establish- 
ments were rich in the possession of extensive lands, castles, 
and towns ; and furnished 7000 troops for the defence of the 
state. Saladin, the sultan of Egypt, overthrew this Christian 
government, and annexed Judea to his empire, in which state 
it was held by his successors about 50 years ; when it was 
wrested from them, together with Egypt, by their own foreign 
slaves, the Mamelukes ; who retained it till the year 1517, 
when it was seized by the Ottoman Turks, under whose 
despotic sway, in darkness and desolation, it remains at the 
present day. 

Such is a brief outline of the history of this once favoured 
country : and who can contemplate its present condition — its 
cities in ruins; its fields lying waste ; its ports deserted ; its 
roads, bridges, and fountains broken up and destroyed ; its 
inhabitants few and wretched, deprived alike of every source 
of knowledge and enjoyment, and stripped by the extortions 
of a rapacious government and the plunder of the Arabs ; 
property insecure ; and labour useless —who can contemplate 



204 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JU1) 



all this without feeling a deep conviction of the truth of tne 
prophetic denunciations, so frequent in Scripture, against this 
land ; once so peculiarly favoured by the divine protection ) 

The ancient Jews seem to have been almost exclusively a 
pastoral people, a nation of farmers and shepherds ; their pa- 
triarchs, lawgivers, judges, kings, warriors, prophets, — were 
all, at different times, tillers of the ground and keepers of 
flocks ; and suffered no degradation from their station as hus- 
bandmen. In the patriarchal ages, and long after, throughout 
the eastern world, as in Arabia at the present day, the pasto- 
ral life was the most honourable, and wealth and rank were 
estimated by the amount of flocks and herds. Even the fe- 
males of rank thought it no disgrace to be similarly employed ; 
and the daughters of Bethuel, of Laban, and of Jethro, were 
found tending their fathers' flocks. In such a state of society, 
the distinctions of rank must have been fewer and less dis- 
proportioned than in modern civilized nations. There were 
no idle people living on the sweat of the brow of their fellow- 
men, and looking down with scorn on those whom Providence 
especially honours by making them useful in their generation. 

The face of the country in Judea is beautifully diversified 
with hills and plains — hills now barren and gloomy, but once 
cultivated to their summits and smiling in the variety of their 
produce, chiefly the olive and the vine; and plains, over 
which the Arab now roves to collect a scanty herbage for his 
cattle, but once yielding an abundance of which the inhabit- 
ants of a northern climate can form no idea. Rich in its 
soil, glowing in the sunshine of an almost perpetual summer ; 
and abounding in scenery of the grandest and most beautiful 
kind ; this happy country was indeed a land which the Lord 
had blessed : but Mahometan sloth and despotism, as the in- 
struments employed to execute the curse of heaven, have 
converted it into a waste of rock and desert, with the excep- 
tion of some few spots which remain to attest the veracity 
of the accounts formerly given of it. 

The hills of Judea frequently rise into mountains ; the most 
considerable of which are those of Lebanon and Hermon, on 
the north ; but those which surround the sea of Galilee and 
the Dead Sea are also of considerable elevation. The other 
mountains of note are Carmel, Tabor, Ebal, and Gerizim ; 
with the mountains of Gilboa, Gilead, and Abarim ; with the 
summits of the latter, Nebo and Pisgah; a description of 
which will be found under their respective heads. Many of 



JUD DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 205 

the hills and rocks abound with caverns — the refuge of the 
distressed, or the resorts of robbers. 

Owing to the scarcity of rain in Judea, and the heat and 
dryness of the atmosphere, there are but few rivers ; and as 
these all rise within its boundaries, their course is short, and 
their size inconsiderable. The principal is the Jordan : the 
other remarkable streams are, the Arnon, Jabbok, Kishon, 
Kedron, Besor, Sorek, and the stream called the river of 
Egypt. For a description, the reader is referred to these 
articles. 

This country was once adorned with woods and forests ; as 
we read of the forest of cedars in Lebanon ; the forest of 
oaks in Bashan ; the forest or wood of Ephraim, &c. Of these 
the woods of Bashan alone remain as described by travellers ; 
the rest have been swept away by the ravages of time and 
of armies, and by the gradual consumption of the inhabitants, 
whose indolence and ignorance have prevented their preserv- 
ing the trees or planting others. 

Wildernesses or deserts are frequently mentioned m the 
sacred writings. Of these there are but few in Judea, which 
must not be compared with the extensive wastes of Arabia 
and Africa ; they are of small extent, and consist of unculti- 
vated tracts, either mountainous and rocky, or plain and 
sandy. Those in this country are, the wilderness of Ziph, 
of Tekoa, of Kedemoth, and of Judea. 

Judea, under its present governments, is divided into pasha- 
licks, or districts, each governed by its pasha, or petty prince, 
subject to the Turkish sultan or emperor. Of these districts 
there are three : Acre and Gaza, on the coast, of which the 
iatter*is the chief, and may be said to include the former ; and 
that of Damascus on the east, including Jerusalem, Hebron, 
Naplous, and Tiberias : the pasha of Damascus holding the 
pashalick of Aleppo, is, in fact, the viceroy of Syria. 

Lately the pasha of Egypt, having revolted from the sul- 
tan, has obtained possession of this country ; but what may 
be its future destiny, considering the present disturbed state 
of the Turkish empire, must be left to conjecture. 

The present inhabitants of Judea consist of a mixed popula- 
tion of Turks, Syrians, Arabs ; Latin, Greek, and Armenian 
Christians ; Copts, Druses, and Jews. Of these the poor Jews 
form but a small proportion, and live in obscurity and retire- 
ment ; compelled to use every art to escape the tyranny and 
rapacity of their ferocious rulers. 
S 



206 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



JVD 




No. 1. A medal representing the daughter of Zion, by which figure 
the Hebrew poets and prophets personified their country, sitting under 
a palm tree, in a mournful attitude ; accompanied by a prisoner whose 
hands are tied behind him. This captive figure may represent the 
nation of the Jews, or one of their chiefs. Inscription Jub^ea capta, 
Judea vanquished, or conquered. This may remind us of the captives 
in Babylon who " sat down and wept ;' f but what is more remarkable, 
we find Judea represented as a woman in sorrow, sitting on the ground, 
in a passage of the prophet which foretells the very captivity recorded 
on these medals. 

No 2. has on one side of the palm tree, a collection of arms and 
standards ; and on the other, the daughter of Zion, weeping as before, 
and addressing the conqueror, vicisti c^esar, thou hast conquered 
C<Bsar ! 





No 3. 










*lk 








&M 




o\ 


\i< i 






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Itttr ISilt SB a 




1)8 UA 1 

18 O U. 








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u 


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c^. 




\^sc 




^s 





No. 3. The side represents Victory, inscribing on a shield the tri- 
umph of the Romans ; she tramples, at the same time, on a battered hel- 
met. Motto Victoria Augusti, the victory of Augustus. The second 
represents a warrior holding a blunt spear, a sheathed sword, and 



KAR 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



207 



trampling on a helmet. This denotes peace procured at the expense of 
the vanquished, whom we see depicted by the figure of a woman 
weeping, under a palm tree. 




No. 4. The head is Vespasian ; the reverse represents Peace holding 
up an olive branch, and burning the implements of war before an 
altar ; behind her is a column, importing a trophy of success. After 
the conclusion of the Jewish war, this emperor built a temple to Peace, 
in which he deposited the spoils of Judea, after having carried them 
in triumph. 

Judea, wilderness of: a neglected tract of country, lying 
along both sides of the Jordan, and perhaps the Dead Sea. 
It was called a wilderness, not because it was absolutely un- 
inhabited ; but because it was less populous than the other 
parts of the country. Here John the Baptist first taught, 
and Christ was tempted. Matt. iii. 1. Mark i. 4. 13. 



K. 

Kabzeel, a eity of Judah, near the south-western shore of 
the Dead Sea, (Josh. xv. 21.) and was the native place of 
Benaiah, one of David's mighty men. 2 Sam xxiii. 20. 

Kadesh ; See Part I. p. 47. 

Kadmgnites, an ancient people of Canaan. See Parti. 
p. 33. 

Kanah, a brook on the border of Ephraim and Manasseh. 
(Josh. xvi. 8. xvii. 9.) Also a city of Asher. Josh. xix. 28. 

Karkaa, a place in the border of the tribe of Judah. Josh, 
xv. 3. 

Karkor, a town in the tribe cf Gad, near the head of the 
Arnon. Judges viii. 10. 



KID 

Josh. 



208 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 

Kartah, a city of Zebulon, given to the Levites. 
xxi. 34. 

Kartan, a city of Naphtali, given to the Levites, (Josh, 
xxi. 32.) probably the same as Kiriathaim. 1 Chron. vi. 76. 

Kattath, a town of Zebulon, (Josh. xix. 15.) called Kilron. 
Judges i. 30. 

Kedar, a district in the north of Arabia Felix, so called 
from Kedar, the son of Ishmael. (Gen. xxv. 13.) The peo- 
ple dwelt in tents, (Psalm cxx.) were rich in cattle, (Isa. Ix. 
7.) of a swarthy complexion, (Song i. 5.) and excellent 
archers. Isa. xxi. 17. 

Kedemoth, a city of Reuben, near the river Arnon, from 
which the wilderness of Kedemoth probably received its 
name, lying near it. Josh. xiii. 18. Deut. ii. 26. 

Kedesh, a city of Naphtali, (Josh. xix. 37.) given to the 
Levites, (xxi. 32.) and a city of refuge, (xx. 7.) It is fre- 
quently called in Scripture Kedesh-Naphtali, to distinguish it 
from another place of the same name in the tribe of Judah. 
It was situated in the east of Naphtali, 20 miles from Tyre ; 
and is called Kadesa by Joseph us, and Kedes in the Greek of 
Tobit i. 2. 

Kedesh was also a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 23.) but it seems 
never to have been a place of much note. There was also 
a place of this name in Issachar, (1 Chron. vi. 72.) probably 
the same called Kishion. Josh. xix. 20. 

Kedron, a brook. See Kidron. 

Kehalathah, an encampment of Israel in the wilderness. 
Numb, xxxiii. 22. 

Keilah, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 44.) eight miles north- 
west of Hebron. It was still a place of some note in the 
fourth century ; and it is said that the tomb of Habakkuk, the 
prophet, was shown there. 1 Sam. xxiii. 1. I Chron. iv. 19. 

Kenath, a town of Manasseh, east of Jordan. Numb, 
xxxii. 42. 

Kenites, and Kenizites, people of Canaan. See Part I. 
p. 33. 

Keziz, a valley in the tribe of Benjamin. Josh, xviii. 2L 

Kibroth-hattaavah, an encampment of the Israelites in 
the wilderness. See Part L p. 46* 

Kibzaim, a city of Ephraim. Josh. xxi. 22. 

Kidron, a brook running through the valley of Jehosha- 
phat, on the east of Jerusalem, between the city and the 
Mount of Olives. This brook has but a small quantity of 



K1S DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 209 

water, and is often quite dry ; but upon sudden and heavy 
rains it swells and runs with great rapidity. It was thus of 
singular service to the city, as it received the contents of the 
common sewers, and upon every such flood carried them off 
into the Dead Sea. Not only the blood poured at the foot of 
the altar in the temple, but the filth from the sacrifices, was 
carried by a drain into this brook. 

Kilmad, supposed to be a city of Media. Ezek. xxvii. 23. 

Kinah, a city of Judah. JosL xv. 22. 

Kir, a city of Assyria or Media, to which the people of 
Damascus were carried captive by Tiglath-Pileser. 2 Kings 
xvi. 9. 

Kir-heres, the capital of Moab, the same as Rabbath- 
Moab and Ar. This place was ravaged by the Assyrians and 
Chaldeans. Isa. xv. 1. Jer. xlviiL 31. 36. 

Kirjath, or Kiriath, the Hebrew word which signifies a 
city ; whence we so frequently find it in the names of places. 
There was a town of this name in the tribe of Benjamin. 
Josh, xviii. 28. 

Kirjathaim, a city of Moab, given to the tribe of Reuben. 
Numb. xxxiL 37. Josh. xiii. 19. 

Also a city of Naphtali, (1 Chron. vL 76.) thought to be 
the same as Kartan. Josh. xxi. 32. 

Kirjath- arba, the ancient name of Hebron. See Part L 
p. 32. 

Kirjath-baal, a city of Judah, called also Kirjath-jearim. 
Josh. xv. 60. 

Kirjath-huzoth, the royal city of Balak, king of Moab. 
Numb. xxii. 39. 

Kirjath-jearim, a city of the Gibeonites, (Josh. ix. 17.) 
called also Kirjath-baal, and Baalath: given to Judah, and 
afterwards to Dan. Josh. xv. 60. xix. 44. See Part I. p. 56. 

Kirjath-sepher, Kirjath-sanna, or Debir, a city of Judah. 
See Part I. p. 57. 

Kishion, a city of Issachar, given to the Levites. Josh, 
xix. 20. xxi. 28. 

Kishon, a brook or river of Canaan. There seem to have 
been two streams of this name, both rising near Mount Tabor, 
in the tribe of Zebulon ; one flowing westward into the Medi- 
terranean, and the other eastward into the Sea of Galilee. It 
is certain that the greater Kishon ran westward, and passed 
near Mount Carmel, as we read, (1 Kings xviii. 40.) that the 
prophets of Baal were brought down from the mountain, and 
S2 



'* 



210 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



LAO 



slain at the brook of Kishon. Mr. Maundrel, the traveller, 
tells us that this stream runs through the middle of the plain 
of Esdraelon, and continuing its course close by the side of 
Mount Carmel, falls into the sea at a place called Caiapha. 

Kithlish, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 40. 

Kitron, a city allotted to Zebulon, from which the Ca- 
naanites were not driven out. It appears to have been a 
strong place. Judges i. 30. 

Kittim, descendants of Javan, the son of Japheth. See 
Part I. p. 19. 

Koa, a region in Babylonia, mentioned in the prophecies 
of Ezekiel, xxiii. 23. 



Lacedjemon, (1 Mace, xii.) a famous city of Greece, called 
also Sparta, which indeed was the proper name of the city, 
Lacedoemon being that of the country, according to Strabo 
and Stephanus. This city was the capital of Laconia, and 
situated on the Eurotas. It was smaller than Athens, but 
equal or superior in power ; and in its most flourishing state 
had no walls, the bravery of its citizens rendering them need- 
less. In the time of Cassander, however, walls were erected, 
which were pulled down by Philopoemon, 188 years after 
Christ. Some time after this, Laconia was reduced to the 
state of a Roman province, by the consul Mummius. The 
town of Misistra now stands about a mile from the ancient 
Lacedeemon. It appears, from ancient writers, that the Jews 
claimed kindred with the Lacedaemonians, and that the latter, 
after examination of their ancient records, allowed this kin- 
dred. Mr. Bryant supposes that the Lacedaemonians were 
originally emigrants from the same country as Abraham. 

Lachish, a city of Judah. (Josh. xv. 39.) See Part I. p. 57. 

Lahmam, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 40. 

Laish, or Leshem, a city near the head of the Jordan, 
taken by the children of Dan, (Josh. xix. 47. Judges xvjii. 7. 
29.) and thence called Dan. See Ccesarea Philippi. 

Lakijm, a city of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 33. 

Lahaj-roi. a well. See Part I. p. 34. 

Laodicea, a city of Phrygia in Asia Minor, situated on 
the river Lycus, not far from Colosse. Its ancient name, ac- 
cording to Pliny, was Diospolis, which was afterwards changed 
to Rhoas. It was rebuilt by Antiochus Theos, who named it 
Laodicea, in honour of his wife Laodice. There are several 



LEB DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 211 

other cities of this name mentioned in profane history ; but 
the above-mentioned is the Laodicea of the New Testament 
Col. ii. 1 Rev. iii. 14. 

This city was once one of the most commercial and wealthy 
in Asia; but, having been several times almost destroyed 
by earthquakes, has been deserted by its inhabitants, and is 
now a scene of ruins. The former wealth and luxury of its 
people may be inferred from the remains of sumptuous build- 
ings yet visible ; among which are two spacious theatres, with 
seats rising in numerous rows, one above another. A modern 
traveller says, " We saw no traces of either houses, churches, 
or mosques ; all was silence and solitude. A fox, which we 
first discovered by its ears peeping over a brow, was the only 
inhabitant of Laodicea." 

Lashah, a city in the border of Canaan, probably not far 
from Sodom. Gen. x. 19. 

Lasea, a city in the island of Crete. Acts xxvii. 8. 

Lebanon, the name of two opposite and parallel ridges of 
mountains, called by the Greeks and Latins, Libanus and 
Anti-Libanus, situated on the north of Canaan, and extend- 
ing from the neighbourhood of Sidon on the Mediterranean, 
towards Damascus. The highest summits of these mountains 
are covered with snow most of the year ; but their sides ana 
the less elevated parts, are represented as being fruitful and 
cultivated, enjoying a delightful temperature, and producing 
corn, fruits, oil, and the best wine in Syria. Many rivers and 
streams have their sources in the mountains of Lebanon, the 
springs of which are increased by the melting of the snow 
on the higher elevations. The Jordan, the Barrady, the 
Orontes, and many smaller streams, all flow from these 
mountains in different directions. 

Though the mountains of Lebanon are of considerable ex- 
tent, yet the name is commonly confined to that part on which 
the cedars grow ; other names being given to other parts of 
these celebrated mountains. The cedars of Lebanon are 
famed in Scripture, and trees of them are yet found there, 
which are described by travellers as being thirty-six feet in 
circumference round the trunk, and evidently of great age. 
There are not many remaining, but, according to appearances, 
they were formerly more numerous than at present. 

Lebaoth, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 32.) called Beth-Le 
baoth, xix. 6. 



212 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



LYB 



■■'* 






Lebonah, a place not far from Shiloh, on the north. Judges 
xxi. 19. 

Lehabim, descendants of Misraim, the son of Ham. <$ee 
Part I. p. 26. 

Lehi, a place in Judah, called also Ramath-lehi, where 
Samson killed 1000 Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass. 
Judges xv. 9. 14. 17. 

Leshem, see Laish. 

Levi, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part I. 
p. 62 and 67. 

Libanus, see Lebanon. 

Libnah, an encampment of the Israelites in the desert 
(Numb, xxxiii. 20.) Also a city in the tribe of Judah, 16 
miles south-west of Jerusalem ; given to the Levites. (Josh. 
x. 29. xii. 15. xv. 42. xxi. 13.) Also a city of Asher, called 
Shihor-libnath. Josh. xix. 26. 

Lod, a city, (1 Chron. viii. 12. Neh. xi. 35.) called in the 
Greek Lydda. 1 Mace. xi. 34. Acts ix. 35. 

Lodebar, a place east of Jordan, near Mount Gilead. 2 
Sam. ix. 4. xvii. 27. 

Lubim, a people of Africa, inhabiting the country near 
Egypt. 2 Chron. xii. 3. xvi. 8. See Lybia. 

Ludim, the descendants of Lud, son of Misraim. See Part 
I. p. 25. 

Luhith, a place in the country of the Moabites, east of the 
Dead Sea. Isa. xv. 5. Jer. xlviii. 5. 

Luz, a city of the Canaanites, afterwards called Bethel. 
(Gen. xxviii. 19.) Also a city appropriated to the sons of 
Joseph, not far from Shechem. (Josh. xvi. 2.) Another city 
of this name was built in the land of the Hittites. Judges 
i. 26. 

Lybia, or Libya, in Hebrew, Lubim. (2 Chron. xii. 3. xvi. 
8. Nahum iii. 9. Jer. xlvi. 9. Dan. xi. 43.) A country of 
Africa, lying west of Egypt ; extending along the coast as 
far as Cyrene, and to an unknown distance into the interior. 
In a larger sense, Lybia seems to have been sometimes used 
for nearly the whole of Africa west of Egypt. It is men- 
tioned in the New Testament, (Acts ii. 10.) where certain 
Jews from this country, being at Jerusalem on the day of 
Pentecost, were converted by Peter. This country is now 
called Barca, and is separated from Tripoli by the Gulf of 
Sidra. It is generally a sandy desert, inhabited by a few 
wandering Arabs, who subsist chiefly by plunder. 



MAA DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 213 

Lycaonia, a province of Asia Minor, west of Cappadocia ; 
having Galatia on the north, Cilicia and Pisidia on the south, 
and Phrygia west. St. Paul preached in Iconium, Lystra, 
and Derbe, cities of this province ; (Acts xiv. 1-6.) and the 
churches established here by him and Barnabas, were support- 
ed till the subjugation of the country by the Saracens. 

Lycia, a province in the south-west of Asia Minor, on the 
coast of the Mediterranean. Its-, capital was Myra, where 
Paul entered a ship to go to Rome, in order to appear before 
Nero. (Acts xxvii. 5.) The Lycians were formerly cele- 
brated for their justice and equity ; but before the Christian 
era, many of them omthe sea-coast were addicted to piracy. 

Lydda, called in Hebrew Lod, (1 Chron. viii. 12.) and 
sometimes by the Greeks Diospolis ; a town in the way from 
Jerusalem to Csesarea, about 15 miles east of Joppa, and 33 
from Jerusalem. Here Peter healed a man who had kept his 
bed with the palsy eight years. (Acts ix. 32.) It is now a 
ruined village, called by the Arabs Lydd, having a market 
once in a week, where traders resort to sell cottons and other 
commodities. 

Lydia, a province of Asia Minor, probably peopled by Lud, 
the son of Shem. {See Part I. p. 25.) It lies on the east of 
the Egean Sea ; having Mysia on the north, Phrygia on the 
east, and Caria on the south. In the times of the last Lydian 
kings, Crcesus and Alyattes, the country was much more ex- 
tensive, comprehending the whole territory from the Egean 
Sea to the river Halys. This country was conquered by Cy- 
rus, and has since been the prey successively of the Greeks, 
Romans, Saracens, and Turks. 

The gospel was early introduced into Lydia, and churches 
established in its chief cities, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, 
&c. ; it is even said that some vestiges of Christianity remain 
here to the present day. 

Lystra, a city of Lycaonia, the native place of Timothy, 
Acts xvi. 1. 



M. 

Maachath, a place belonging to the Amorites, situated Id 
the north of the district allotted to Manasseh, east of Jordan. 
Josh. xii. 5. xiii. 13. 

Maacha, or Beth-rnaacah. See Abel-beth-maacah. 



214 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



MAC 



Maarath, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 59. 

Macedonia, a large province north of Greece ; bounded 
north by the mountains of Hsemus ; east by Thracia and the 
Egean Sea ; south by Thessaly and IJpirus, in Groece ; and 
west by the Ionian and Adriatic seas, j 

This country was anciently called JEmathia, and has been 
supposed by some to have been peopled by the descendants of 
Madai, the son of Japheth. <y 

Caranus, the first king of Macedonia, began his reign 814 
years before the Christian era. In the reign of Amyntas I. 
about 547 years before Christ, the Macedonians, upon being 
threatened with an invasion, became tributary to the Persians. 
Having, however, shaken off the Persian yoke, Macedonia 
continued to increase in power ; and 'at length, during the 
reign of Philip, 337 years before Christ, all Greece was brought 
under the dominion of this nation. Alexander the Great, son 
and successor of Philip, raised Macedonia to its height of 




MAC 



DICTIONARY OP THE BIBLE. 

No. 2. 



215 







^fllSI 






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1 \^BiB 




HS\\ |E§mfP§§|§ 


■Eafti €■' ti-t--gfl 


^ ^^^^^g^ 














SPS^ssssfs^ss 


jt 


ll ^BHS 


B 






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^^P^^H 


H 


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IBl 




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No. 1. A represent 
ation of an ancient 
bronze figure of a goal 
with one horn, which 
was dug up in Asia 
Minor. It is supposed 
to have been affixed 
to the top of a milita 
ry standard, in the 
same manner as the 
Roman eagle ; and it 
is related in history, 
that Caranus, the first 
king of the Macedo- 
nians, ordered goats 
to be carried before 
the standards of his 
army. 

No. 2. An engraving 
from a piece of sculp- 
ture on a pilaster in 
the ruins of Persepo- 
lis; in which a goat 
is represented, with a 
large horn growing 
out of the middle of 
his forehead, and a 
man in a Persian dress 
is seen by his side, 
holding the horn with 
his left hand, by which 
is signified the subjec- 
tion of Macedon to 
Persia, as we have 
above mentioned, in 
the year 547 before 
Christ. 



power and greatness ; and made it the third kingdom which 
had obtained the empire of the world, having no less than a 
hundred and fifty nations under its dominion. But after the 
death of Alexander, the empire, being divided among his gen- 
erals, quickly fell into weakness and contention, and was soon 
swallowed up in the rising and all-conquering power of the 
Romans. Macedonia, when visited by the apostle Paul, (Acts 
xvi.) was a Roman province ; and several of its cities, Thes- 



216 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



MAC 



salonica, Amphipolis, Berea, Philippi, &c. are mentioned in 
the New Testament, in which Christianity was founded at an 
early period. 

This country was doubtless comprehended under the term 
Chittim, by the prophet Daniel, by which term he describes 
Greece in general ; and the symbol by which this nation is 
designated, that of the goat with one horn, (Dan. viii. 5.) has 
been proved, by reference to medals, coins, and inscriptions of 
great antiquity, to have been the ancient symbol proper to 
Macedonia, as that of Persia was the ram. 



No. 3. 




No. 3. It has been supposed that the Macedonians derived their ori- 
gin from Media, and probably thence brought this symbol of their coun- 
try, which may once have been also proper to Media. This plate re- 
presents another sculpture at Persepolis ; in which are seen two single- 
horned goats, walking together, but each directed by its proper super- 
intendent ; signifying the two provinces of Upper and Lower Media, 
subject to Persia, and under Persian governors. 

Other ancient medals represent the head of a ram joined with the 
head of a single-horned goat, implying either the united empire of Per- 
sia and Media, or the conquest of Persia by the Macedonians under 
Alexander. 

The fact that both Media and Macedonia were represented by the 
goat with one horn, explains the reason of Daniel's perplexity on seeing 
the vision, as he could not tell which of the two countries was intend- 
ed as the conqueror of Persia, until he was informed. Dan, viii. 15. 

Machpelah, the cave in which Abraham and the other pa- 
triarchs, with their wives, were buried. It was situated near 
Hebron, and was in the piece of ground which Abraham 
bought of Ephron, the Hittite, (Gen. xxiii.) which is the first 



MAO DICTIONARY OP THE BIBLE. 217 

piece of land mentioned in history as sold or bought. A church 
built over this cave is now converted into a mosque, into 
which neither Jews nor Christians are allowed to enter ; but 
they are permitted to look through holes made in the walls. 

Madai, a son of Japheth. See Part I. p. 17. 

Madmannah, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 31. 

Madon, (Josh. xii. 19.) probably the same as Maron, in 
Syria, north of Mount Libanua 

Magdala, a place visited by our Saviour, (Matt. xv. 39.) 
otherwise called Dalmanutha. XMark viii. 10.) It is supposed to 
have been situated somewhere on the eastern coast of the sea of 
Galilee ; and was probably the native place of Mary Magdalene, 
from -which she took her surname. The situation of this place 
is, however, uncertain ; and writers differ in their opinions re- 
specting it, some placing it on the east, and others on the west 
of the sea of Galilee, while others suppose it to have been 
near the head of the Jordan. 

Maged, a city east of Jordan, taken by Judas Maccabeus. 
1 Mace. v. 36. 

Magog, a son of Japheth. See Gog, also Patt I. p. 17. 

Mahanatm, a city east of Jordan in the tribe of Gad, given 
to the Levites. Josh. xxi. 38. See Part L p. 37. 

Mahaneh-dan, a place near Kirjath-jearim, where the 
Danites encamped on their way to Laisb. (Judg. xviii. 12.) 
The name means the camp of Dan. 

Makez, a place supposed to belong to the tribe of Dan. 1 
Kings iv. 9. 

Makeloth, an encampment of the Israelites in the wilder- 
ness. Numb, xxxiii. 25. 

Marked ah, a city of Judah. (Josh. xv. 41.) See Part 1. 
p. 57. 

Mallos, a city of Cilicia, whose inhabitants revolted from 
Antiochus. 2 Mace. iv. 30. 

Mamre, a fertile plain or valley, near Hebron, where Abra- 
ham dwelt, and where he built an altar to the Lord. (Gen. 
xiii. 18.) The city of Hebron was also sometimes called 
Mamre. Gen. xiii. 18. 

Manasseh, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, whose in- 
heritance was partly on the east, and partly on the west of 
Jordan. See Part I. p. 65 and 67. 

Maon, a city in the south of Judah, (Josh. xv. 55.) near 
which was a desert called the Wilderness of Maon. (1 Sam. 
xxiii. 24.) Also a country in Arabia. Judg. X. 12. 

T 



218 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



MEl> 




Marah, an encampment of the Israelites in the desert, 
See Part I. p. 44. 

Maralah, a city in the border of the tribe of Zebulon 
Josh. xix. 11. 

Mareshak, a city of Judah f (Josh. xv. 44.) near which a 
battle was fought between Asa ? king of Judah, and Zerah, 
king of Cush, or Ethiopia, in which the latter, with an army • 
consisting of a million of men 7 was defeated. 2 Chron. xiv. 10, 

Mashal, a city of Asher, (1 Chron. vi. 74.) called also 
Misheal and Mishal. Josh. xix. 26. xxi. 30. 

Masrekah, a city of Edom. Gen. xxxvL 36. 

Mearah, a city probably near Sidon. Josh. xiii. 4. 

Medeba, a city east of Jordan, in the tribe of Reuben ; 
said by Eusebius to be near Heshbon. It is one of the cities 
of Moab, mentioned by Isaiah ; and appears, from Josephus, 
to have been afterwards conquered by the Arabians. It is 
noted in the wars of the Maccabees. 1 Mace. xi. 36. 

Media, the country of the Medes, situated in Asia, south 
and west of the Caspian sea ; and bounded north by the Cas- 
pian, and the river Araxes ; east by Parthia ; south by Persia ; 
and west by Assyria and Armenia. The Medes are denoted 
in Scripture by the term Madai, whence it has been generally 
supposed that this country was peopled by Madai, the son of 
Japheth. (See Part I. p. 17.) The province of Media was 
first raised into a kingdom, by its revolt from the Assyrian 
monarchy, B. C. 820 ; and after it had for some time enjoyed 
a kind of republican government, Dejoces, by his artifice, 
procured the title of king, 700 B. C. After a reign of 53 
years, he was succeeded by Phraortes ; who was succeeded by 
Cyaxares, B. C. 625. His successor was Astyages, in whose 
reign Cyrus became master of Media, B. C. 551, and ever 
afterwards the country remained subject to the Persians. 

Media is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, and 
particularly by Daniel the prophet, who lived when Belshaz- 
zar was slain, and the kingdom of Babylon taken by the 
Medes and Persians. Rages was also in Media, (Tobit i. 14. 
iii. 7, &c.) and into this country were the captive Israelites 
carried by Salmaneser. 2 Kings xvii. 6. xviii. 11. 

The northern parts of this country, lying between the Cas- 
pian mountains and the sea, are very cold and barren ; but the 
southern parts produce all sorts of grain, and necessaries of 
life, and are so pleasant that the country adjoining to Tauris, 



MEL DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 219 

probably the ancient capital of Media, Ecbatana, has been 
called the garden of Persia. 

Megiddo, a city of Manasseh, in the tribe of Issachar. 
(Josh. xvii. 11.) See Part I p. 60. 

Mejarkon, a city of Dan. Josh. xix. 46. 

Mekonah, a city of Judah. Neb. xi. 28. 

Melita, an island in the Mediterranean, now called Malta ; 
situated 60 miles south of Sicily, and being about 15 miles in 
length from east to west, and 25 in breadth from north to 
south. This island is thought to have been that of the Phae- 
acians mentioned by Homer, at that period named Iperia, and 
governed by Eurymedon. It appears that the Phenicians, 
navigating the Mediterranean, took possession of this island 
about 1519 before Christ, and founded a colony which became 
flourishing and powerful. They established, of course, the 
worship of their divinities, as well as of those adored in Egypt ; 
though perhaps the latter were derived direct from that coun- 
try by a eolony from the neighbourhood of the Nile, which, 
perhaps, settled in the island. The name of Ogygia suc- 
ceeded to that of Iperia : the island now had kings, and Dido 
was here received with due honour on her voyage to lay the 
foundation of Carthage. The Greeks became masters of 
Ogygia about 786 before Christ, and from them its name 
of Melita is handed down to us. About 528 B, C. the Car- 
thaginians overpowered the Greeks, and exercised the sove- 
reignty of Melita, but without expelling the former inhabit- 
ants : to these succeeded the Romans, who under Attilius Re- 
gulus took the island, yet their dominion was not established 
till the beginning of the second Punie war. Malta was now 
in prosperity, and its manufactures were considered at Rome 
as articles of luxury. Under the Roman government oc- 
curred one of the most remarkable events in the history of 
Malta; the shipwreck of St. Paul, about A. D. 56. (Acts 
xviii. 1.) Publius was at this time Protos, or chief 

On the division of the Roman empire, Malta fell to the lot 
of Constantius. It was seized by the Vandals in 454, but 
retaken by Belisarius 583, conquered by the Arabs in 870, and 
by count Roger, or his brother Guiscard, in 1090. It passed 
to the Germans by the marriage of Constance, heiress of 
Sicily, with Henry IV., son of the emperor Frederick Bar- 
barossa ; but its prosperous days were now over, and its riches 
had disappeared. It was at length united to the crown of 
Spain* and Charles V. gave it to the knights of St John of 



220 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



MaL 



Jerusalem, who here established themselves, A. D. 1530. 
These knights were in number 1000, of whom 500 were to 
be resident in the island; the others being dispersed through 
Christendom, in their several seminaries in France, Italy, and 
Germany. The knights surrendered the island to Napoleon 
Bonaparte, who, being on his way to Egypt, in 1798, with a 
formidable expedition, stopped at Malta, and took possession. 

This island is now in the possession of the British, and is 
noted for its stupendous fortifications. It produces a variety 
of excellent fruits, though tho isknd is wholly a rock, not 
having above three feet depth of soil; 




No. 1. A medal of Malta, exhibiting the head of the goddess Proser- 
pine, with a small globe, or egg, or stone, upon her head ; an emblem fre- 
quent among Egyptian deities. The reverse shows a divinity to which 
two attendants are making offerings, and holding a canopy over the 
deity ; from their hips issue wings, and their lower limbs resemble those 
of the ox. This resembles the Hebrew cherub, which had several wings 
and the legs of an ox ; and may serve to prove that the cherubic figure 
was known to other eastern nations beside the Hebrews, and was, as 
among them, appropriated to attendants on the deity. This medal is re- 
markable for the Punic letters all, above the canopy, which prove its 
antiquity ; and as they are also found upon medals of a much later date, 
they show the prevalence of the Punic language in this island, and jus- 
tify the appellation barbarians, given to the inhabitants, (Acts xxviii. 2. 
4.) showing that it is to be explained, not by referring it to savage man- 
ners, but to a foreign tongue. The signification of these letters is un- 
certain, but are supposed to refer to the goddess Urania, whom the 
Arabs, according to Herodotus, called Alilath, and for which the letters 
all, alii, or alili, may stand, Scaliger proves Urania to be the moon; 
and the deity on our medal is probably the Phenician Astarte or Ash- 
taroth. 



MES 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



221 



No. 2. 




No. 2. A medal with the inscription melitaion, of Melita, the inten- 
tion of which is difficult to ascertain. The figure on the reverse has 
two pair of wings, one pair at his shoulders, and the other at his hips. 
He wears a cap divided into two points, has a necklace of beads, and 
carries in his hands a crook or sickle, and a flail. These, with the 
wheat ear which appears with the head, seem to refer to the production 
of grain ; and may denote the worship of the goddess of fertility. The 
figures, as well as those of No. 1, have an Egyptian air, and denote the 
ancient colonization of Malta from Egypt. 

Memphis, a city of Egypt, (Hosea ix. 6.) called in Hebrew 
Noph, which see. 

Mephaath, a city of the Levites in Reuben, in the land of 
Moab. Josh. xiii. 18. xxi. 37. 

Merathaim, a province of Chaldea, upon the Tigris, pro- 
bably not far from Nineveh. Pekod, Koa, and Shoa, were 
places also in its vicinity. Jer. 1. 21. Ezek. xxiii. 23. 

Merom, a lake in the north of Canaan. Josh. xi. 5. See 
Part L p. 58. 

Meroz, a city of Galilee. Judges v. 23. 

Mesh a, a mountain. See Part I. p. 21. 

Meshech, a son of Japheth. See Part I. p. 19. 

Mesopotamia, a country lying between the rivers Tigris 
and Euphrates, whence its name from the Greek mesos, be- 
tween, and pot amos, a river ; but in Hebrew it is called Aram 
Naharain, i. e. Syria of the rivers ; and sometimes Padan 
Aram. In Josh. xxiv. 2, 3. it is Eber hanaar, beyond the 
river, rendered in our translation, " the other side of the flood." 
Under these different names this country is much celebrated 
in Scripture. It extended to Armenia on the north, and seems 
to have included a considerable portion of Shinar or Chaldea, 
to the south. 4 

At an early period this country was subject to the Assvrian3 
T2 



222 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



MIL 






and Chaldeans. After this it was successively subjugated by 
the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Parthians, the Sa- 
racens, the Seljukian Turks, the Tartars, and finally the Ou 
toman Turks. Straho informs us that it was divided into two 
parts, the first of which he called Mesopotamia Felix, which 
is probably the upper part of the country,, the Padan Aram 
of Scripture. The other part he styles incultst et aspera, un-. 
cultivated and rugged, which was the southern part of the 
country towards Babylon. Anciently Mesopotamia contained 
many cities, and seems to have been populous and flourishing ; 
but there is now in this country no place of much conse- 
quence. 

Metheg-ammah, a place taken by David from the Philis- 
tines, (2 Sam. viii. 1.) probably the same as Gath. 1 Chron. 
xviii. 1. 

Michmash, a city of Ephraim on the border of Benjamin, 
east of Bethaven. 1 Sam. xiii. 5. 

Middin, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 61. 

Midian, a country lying south-east of Canaan, on the east 
of the Dead Sea, and south of Moab ; peopled by the descend- 
ants of Midian, the son of Abraham and Keturah. (See Part 
I. p. 35.) The Midianites were early a commercial people, 
and traded to Egypt in spices, balm, &c. and some of them 
were among the merchants who bought Joseph of his brethren 
and carried him into Egypt. The Midianites are frequently 
mentioned in Scripture, and appear to have been a roving 
people, and to have spread abroad into several regions differ- 
ent from their original country. The capital of this country 
was called Midian, and its remains were to be seen in the 
time of Jerom and Eusebius, lying on the river Arnon, south 
from the city of Ar. There is also a place in Arabia, on the 
shore of the Red Sea, now in ruins, called Madyan by the 
Arabian geographers, who affirm that it is the place where 
Jethro the priest of Midian resided ; and they, still show the 
well from which Moses watered the flocks. 

Migdal-el, a city of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 3& 

Migdal-gad, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 37. 

Migdol, a place on the frontier of Egypt. Exod. xiv. 2. 
See Part L p. 43. 

Migron, a place mentioned with Michmash, (Isa. x. 28.) 
and probably near it ; apparently a city of Benjamin. 1 Sam. 
xiv. 2. 

Miletus, a sea-port town of Cana in Asia Minor, said to 



MIL DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 223 

nave been settled by a colony from Crete. This was the 
oirth-place of Thales, one of the seven wise men of Greece, 
and also of several other eminent philosophers. It was visited 
6y St. Paul, (Acts xx. 15.) where he was met by the elders 
of the church of Ephesus, as he could not take that place in 
nis way. 

Miletus was once exceedingly powerful and illustrious, and 
its early navigators extended its commerce to remote regions. 
The whole Euxine Sea, the Propontis, Egypt, and othei 
countries, were frequented by its ships, and settled by its 
colonies. These colonies, which were settled abroad, amount-, 
ed to no less than 80, or as Seneca says, 380. The history 
of this place, after the declension of the Greek empire, is 
very imperfect. The whole region has suffered frequent 
ravages from the Turks. One of their sultans, in 1175, sent 
twenty thousand men with orders to lay waste the Roman 
provinces, and bring him sea-water, sand, and an oar. All 
the cities on the river Meander and on the coast were then 
ruined. Miletus was again destroyed, near the close of the 
thirteenth century, by the victorious Ottomans. It is at pre- 
sent a mean place, and the whole site of the former city, to a 
great extent, is overspread with rubbish, and grown up with 
thickets. The principal monument of its ancient magnifi- 
cence, is a theatre in ruins, 457 feet long, with a front of 
marble. There are also remains of the wall, broken arches, 
a few scattered pedestals and inscriptions, with marble urns, 
and many wells. One of the pedestals supported a statue of 
Adrian, and another the emperor Severus, which has this 
inscription, " The senate and people of the city of the Mile- 
sians, the first settled in Ionia, and the mother of many and 
great cities both in Pontus and Egypt, and various other parts 
of the world." 

From the number of forsaken mosques among the ruins, it 
is evident that Mahometanism has flourished in its turn at 
Miletus. 

The Miletus at which Trophimus was left sick by St. 
'Paul, (2 Tim. iv. 20.) is supposed to have been Miletus in the 
island of Crete ; because when St. Paul visited Miletus on 
the continent, Trophimus went with him to Jerusalem, and 
St. Paul did not return to that Miletus. (Acts xx. 17.) 

Millo : this word in Hebrew signifies filled up, and proba- 
bly refers to a deep valley in Jerusalem, between the old city 
on Mount Sion, and the temple on Mount Moriah. This val- 







224 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



MIZ 



/* 



jay is supposed to have been filled up by David and Solomon, 
and a place made for the people to assemble, probably in a 
nouse or castle built for that purpose. (2 Sam. v. 9. 1 Kings 
ix. 15. 24. xi. 27. 2 Chron. xxxii. 5.) The Millo mentioned 
in Judges ix. 6. probably refers to a person of that name. 

Minni, a region in Armenia. Jer. li. 27. 

Minnith, a city east of Jordan, not far from Heshbon. 
.fudges xi. 33. Ezek. xxvii. 17. 

Mishal, a city of Asher, near Mount Carmel, otherwise 
called Mashal. Josh. xix. 26. 

Misphat, or En-mishpat, a fountain, also called Kadesh, 
where Moses and Aaron were judged for their unbelief. Gen. 
xiv. 7. Numb. xx. 12. xxvii. 14. 

Misrephoth-maim, a city in the north of the tribe of Asher 
near the sea. Josh. xi. 8. xiii. 6. 

Mithcah, a station of the Israelites in the wilderness. 
Numb, xxxiii. 28. 

Mitylene, a principal city of the island of Lesbos, which 
at last became so considerable as to give name to the whole 
island, which is yet called Metelin. This island is about 
seven miles from the main land of Troas or Mysia, and is one 
of the largest islands in the Archipelago. St. Paul visited 
Mytilene in his way from Corinth to Jerusalem, (Acts xx. 
14.) and from the 5th to the 8th century we find Christian 
churches here. 

This place is memorable for having produced many emi- 
nent persons, as Sappho, the poetess, Pittacus, one of the 
seven wise men of Greece, Alcseus, Theophanes, Arion, &c. 
The city is on the south-east side of the island, and is well 
fortified. 

Mizar, a hill near the Dead Sea, probably not far from 
Zoar ; a place of resort for David, and where he appears to 
have received some* peculiar manifestations of divine good- 
ness. Psalm xlii. 6. 

Mizpah, or Mizpeh : this name in Hebrew signifies a watch 
tower, or a look-out station ; and it is not strange that in a 
hilly country, and one perpetually exposed to the incursions 
of enemies, like that of the Israelites, that we find many 
places distinguished by this name. 

1. Mizpeh, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 38. 

2. Mizpeh, in Benjamin. Josh, xviii. 26. Judg. xx. 1. 
1 Sam. vii. 5. 1 Kings xv. 22. 2 Kings xxv. 23. Jer. xl. 6. 

3. Mizpeh of Gilead, a city of Gad or Manasseh. (Judg. x. 



NAA DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 225 

17. xi. 11. 29. 34.) called Ramath-mizpeh, Josh. xiii. 26, See 
Part L p. 37. 

4. The land of Mizpeh, and the valley of Mizpeh (Josh. xi. 
3. 8.) were in the east of Canaan, near the mountains of 
Hermon or Gilead. 

5. A place in Moab, (1 Sam. xxii. 3.) probably the watch 
tower in the wilderness mentioned in 2 Chron. xx. 24. 

Mizraim, a name for Egypt, which was peopled by the 
descendants of Mizraim, the son of Ham. See Egypt 

Moab, a country east of the Dead Sea, and south of the 
river Arnon, inhabited by the descendants of Moab, the son 
of Lot. See Part I. pp. 34. 56. 

Modin, a city or town west of Jerusalem, probably in the 
tribe of Dan, situated on a hill, and famous for being the 
dwelling and burying place of the family of the Maccabees. 
1 Mace. ii. 1. 15. ix. 19. xiii. 25. 

Moladah, a city of Judah, afterwards given to Simeon. 
(Josh. xv. 26. xix. 2.) It lay near the southern boundary of 
Canaan. 

Molasthi, a town not far west of Jerusalem, the native 
place of the prophet Micah. Mic. i. 1. 

Moreh, a celebrated plain, and also a hill near Sichem or 
Shechem. See Part I. p. 30. 

Moriah, a mountain in Jerusalem, on which the temple 
was built by Solomon. 2 Chron. iii. 1. 

Mosela, (Deut. x. 6.) or Moseroth, (Numb, xxxiii. 30.) one 
of the encampments in the wilderness, near Mount Hor, where 
Aaron died. 

Myndus, an island in the Icarian sea. 1 Mace. xv. 23. 

Myra, a city of Lycia in Asia Minor, where St. Paul em- 
barked on board a vessel of Alexandria, in order to go to 
Rome. (Acts xxvii. 5.) Myra was the metropolis of Lycia, 
under the Romans ; and was afterwards the see of a Christian 
archbishop. 

Mysia, a province in the west of Asia Minor, bounded 
north by the sea of Propontis and Bithynia ; east by Phrygia ; 
south by Lydia; and west by the Egean sea. St Paul 
preached in this province. Acts xvi. 7. 



N. 
Naamah, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 41. 
Naarath, a city of Ephraim, (Josh. xvi. 7.) called also 






226 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



NAZ 



\ 




Naaran, (1 Chron. vii. 28.) situated, according to Eusebius, 
five miles from Jericho. 

Nabathjeans, or Nabathites, the descendants of Nebaioth, 
the son of Ishmael, (Gen. xxv. 13.) inhabiting Arabia Deserta. 
These people are hardly mentioned in Scripture before the 
time of the Maccabees ; but in the several wars which the 
Jews maintained against the Syrians, the Nabathseans alone 
showed them friendship, while most of the other surrounding 
nations were against them. 1 Mace. v. 24, 25, &c. 

Nachon, the name of a place, (2 Sam. vi. 6.) called also 
Chidon. 1 Chron. xiii. 9. 

Nahalal, a city of Zebulon, given to the Levites. (Josh, 
xix. 15. xxi. 35.) The Canaanites were suffered to dwell in 
it, not being driven out. Judges i. 30. 

Nahaliel, an encampment of the Israelites in the wilder- 
ness. Numb. xxi. 19. 

Nahash, the name of a city, (1 Chron. iv. 12.) the situa- 
tion of which is not known. 

Nain, a city in Issachar, about six miles south of Mount 
Tabor, and near the town of Endor. Here Christ restored 
the widow's son to life. Luke vii. 11. 

Naioth, a place near Ramah, to which David withdrew 
from Saul. (1 Sam. xix. 18, 19.) Samuel, with the sons of 
the prophets, also dwelt here. 

Naphtali, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part I. 
p. 67. 

Naphtuhim, a people descended from Misraim. See 
Part L p. 26. 

Nazareth, a small city in the tribe of Zebulon, in Lower 
Galilee, west of Mount Tabor, remarkable as being the place 
where our Saviour was brought up, and where he resided 
until about thirty years of age. (Matt. ii. 23. Luke ii. 51. iv. 
16.) From this place he received the name of a Nazarene. 

The ancient city was built upon a hill ; (Luke iv. 16. 29.) 
but according to the accounts of modern travellers, the present 
town stands at the foot of it, and is surrounded on all sides by 
hills and mountains. It is but a small place, and its inhabitants 
are about one third Mahometans, and the remainder Chris* 
tians, chiefly of the Greek church. The fathers of the Holy 
Land have an inn here, for the reception and entertainment 
of pilgrims. The place is still shown where stood the house 
of the Virgin Mary ; and on the hill near the town, is a rock 
on the top of a precipice, said to be the place where the 



NIC DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE 




View of Nazareth, 
inhabitants were about to cast down Jesus. Both Turks and 
Christians have a great veneration for this place and its neigh- 
bourhood. Nazareth is 90 miles from Jerusalem, and 24 from 
Acre. 

Neah, a city of Zebulon. Josh. xix. 13. 

Neapolis, a city in the east of Macedonia, to which St. 
Paul came after he had left Samothracia. (Acts xvi. 11.) 
Neapolis or Naplous, according to Jerom, was also a name 
afterwards given to the ancient Sichem or Shechem. 

Neballat, a city of Benjamin. Neh. xi. 34. 

Nebo, a celebrated mountain east of the Jordan. See Part I. 
p. 49. There were also two cities of this name, one in the 
tribe of Reuben, probably near Mount Nebo, (Numb, xxxii. 
38.) and another in Judah, (Ezra ii. 29. x. 43.) thought to 
be the same afterwards called Nabau, eight miles south of 
Hebron. 

Neiel, a city in the boundary of the tribe of Asher. Josh, 
xix. 27. 

Nekeb, a city of Naphtali, (Josh. xix. 33.) supposed by some 
to be the place called in the same verse Adami. 

Nephtoah, a fountain in the tribe of Benjamin. Josh. xv. 9. 

Netophah, a place probably near Bethlehem. Ezra ii. 22. 
Neh. vii. 26. 1 Chron. ii. 54. 

Nezib, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 43. 

Nibshan, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 62. 

Nicopolis; there were two cities of this name; one in 



228 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



NIL 



Epirus, near the Gulf of Ambracia, and another in Thrace, 
near the eastern border of Macedonia : it is uncertain at which 
of them Paul passed the winter, and from where he sent word 
to Titus, who was then in Crete, to join him there ; but it was 
probably that in Macedonia. (Titus iii. 12.) There was also a 
place in Judea called in later times Nicopolis, situated 22 
miles north-west of Jerusalem. 

Nile, the great river of Egypt, to the periodical inundations 
of which this country is indebted for its remarkable fertility. 

The sources of the Nile were so much unknown to the 
ancients, that the search for them became a proverb to express 
any thing ridiculous or impossible. The Ptolemies, Caesars, 
Alexanders, and Neros, were all unsuccessful in their efforts 
to discover the head of the Nile ; and this honour was reserved 
for the distinguished Scottish traveller, Bruce, who was some 
time in Abyssinia, and visited the fountains of this celebrated 
river, which are in that country, in a district called Geesh. 
The people here pay divine honours to the Nile, and thousands 
of cattle have been sacrificed to the spirit of the river, who 
has his priests; and here the surrounding tribes annually 
assemble to make their offerings. This solemn anniversary 
cancels all offences, and their quarrels and animosities are 
here terminated. This, however, is not the principal branch 
of the Nile ; for Mr. Bruce himself confesses that the Bahr el 
Abiad, or White River, is three times as large as the Abys- 
synian branch. This White River is supposed to rise at least 
700 miles farther south-west, in the Mountains of the Moon, 
in the interior of Africa ; and Mr. Bruce says that if it were 
not for this river, the Nile itself would be dry eight months in 
the year, and at no time would it carry across the desert so 
much water as to answer the purposes of agriculture in Egypt. 
The source of the real Nile is then yet to be discovered. 

After leaving Abyssinia, the Nile flows through Nubia into 
Egypt, and a little below Cairo divides itself into two great 
branches, which, with the Mediterranean Sea, form the island 
called the Delta. There are several smaller branches. The 
ancients reckoned eleven mouths to the Nile, of which seven 
were considerable. In upper Egypt the high banks prevent the 
expansion of the river during its inundations, and no part of it 
is overflowed except the lower part of the Delta. The lands 
near the river are watered by machines, and where the breadth 
of the country renders it necessary, canals are cut to lead the 
water from the river When the inundation reaches only to 



NIL 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



229 



the perpendicular height of twelve cubits, a famine necessa- 
rily follows in Egypt, nor is the famine less certain should it 
exceed sixteen cubits ; so the just height is between the two. 
The Nilometer is a pillar erected in the river, on which are 
marked the degrees of the ascent of the water. There were 
several of these in different places; and at the present time 
there is one on the island where the Nile is divided into two 
arms, one of which passes to Cairo, and the other to Gizeh, 
In the beginning of the inundation the water is of a greenish 
colour and unwholesome to drink ; but afterwards it becomes 
red and very muddy. This redness is a certain sign that the 
waters from Abyssinia have arrived in Egypt, and the colour 
is owing to the soil of that country and Sennaar, which is a 
red clay, while the soil of Egypt is very black. The inunda- 
tions of this river are produced by the great rains which fall 
in Abyssinia and the adjacent countries, from about the begin- 
ning of June to the end of August ; and when the river exceeds 
its usual rise, which is about twenty-four feet, it causes great 
destruction and distress, sometimes carrying away whole vil- 
lages, and rendering much of the country unfit for the pur- 
poses of agriculture, as the superfluous water cannot be drained 
off in time for the inhabitants to sow their seed. 




Cataract of the INile. 

In the course of this river there are several cataracts; but 
the largest, generally denominated, by way of eminence, the 





230 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



NIN 



Cataract of the Nile, is particularly worthy of notice. The 
river is about half a mile in breadth, and the depth of the fall 
40 or 50 feet About half a mile below, the rocks, on the oppo- 
site sides, approach each other within 30 feet, where a bridge 
of a single arch has been cast over, from which the cataract 
is seen with great advantage. 

Nimrah, a city of Gad or Reuben, east of the Jordan, 
(Numb, xxxii. 3.) and probably the same called Nimrim in 
Jer. xlviii. 34. and Isa. xv. 6. 

Nineveh, an ancient city of Assyria, built by Asshur, the 
eon of Shem, (Gen. x. 11.) or, according to another reading of 
the text, by Nimrod, the son of Cush. (See Assyria, also Part 
I. p. 25.) Nineveh was not only one of the most ancient, but 
also one of the most famous, powerful, and populous cities in 
the world. It stood upon the banks of the Tigris, and was 
probably founded not long after the building of the tower of 
Babel. In the time of the prophet Jonah, who was sent thither 
under Jeroboam the second, king of Israel, about 800 years 
before Christ, Nineveh was a very great city, its circuit being 
three days' journey. (Jonah iii. 3.) Diodorus Siculus says, it 
was 48 miles in circumference, and surrounded by walls 200 
feet high, and so broad that three chariots might drive on them 
abreast ; with 1500 towers, 200 feet high. It is allowed by 
Strabo to have been much greater than Babylon. At the time 
of Jonah's visit, it was so populous as to contain more than 
120,000 persons who could not distinguish their right hand 
from their left. (Jonah iv. 11.) If this, as is generally under- 
stood, mean young children, the total number of inhabitants 
may be computed to have exceeded 600,000. Nineveh was so 
strong as to have been deemed impregnable ; and there was 
an old prediction concerning it, that it should never be taken 
until the river became its enemy. This prediction induced 
Sardanapalus to make it a place of retreat from his enemies, 
who besieged it three years without success ; but at last the 
river overflowing, carried away a large portion of the wall. 
This accident so terrified Sardanapalus that he burnt himself 
and his treasures, and left the city to the besiegers. Destruc- 
tion being threatened to this city by the preaching of Jonah, 
it thm escaped on repentance. But the people afterwards 
resuming their wicked courses, it was destroyed by Astyages, 
king of the Medes, that it might no longer be an encourage- 
ment to the Assyrians to rebel against him, as they formerly 
had against some of his predecessors. 






NOP DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 231 

The ruin of this great city was foretold by the prophets 
Nahum and Zephaniah, in a very particular and pathetic man ■ 
ner, and the uncertainty of its situation at the present time 
is a complete fulfilment of these prophecies. It is supposed 
to have been situated near the place now called Mosul, where 
travellers in latter years have discovered extensive ruins; and 
traditions yet remain in that country respecting the ancient 
city. They show a mosque on a hill, which is said to be the 
place where Jonah was buried. The place is now called 
Nunia. 

No, a city of Egypt (Nahum iii. 8. Jer. xlvi. 25.) See 
Ammon-no. 

Nob, a city of the priests, (1 Sam. xxii. 11. 19.) situated, 
according to Jerom, twelve miles from Gibeah, who says its 
ruins were yet to be seen in his time. 

Nobah, a city east of Jordan, (Numb, xxxii. 42.) to which 
Gideon pursued the Midianites. Judges viii. 11. 

Nod, land of: See Part I. p. 12. 

Noph, or Memphis, an ancient and famous city of Egypt, 
and for a long time the residence of its kings. It was situ- 
ated on the western bank of the Nile, not far above the 
modern Cairo, and in the same neighbourhood as the pyramids. 
The kings of Egypt took great pleasure in adorning this city, 
and it was their place of residence until the time of the 
Ptolemies, when the seat of government was removed tc 
Alexandria, and Memphis began to decline, its population re- 
moving in great numbers to the new capital ; yet it was still 
a large city in the time of the emperor Augustus. Six hun- 
dred years after, it was taken and ravaged by the Saracens, 
who afterwards built another city near it, to which another 
was afterwards added, which is known to us under the name 
of Cairo. These last, however, were on the opposite side o r 
the river from Momphis, being on the eastern shore. 

Memphis once contained many beautiful temples, dedicated 
to different Egyptian idols, to which the prophet Ezekiel re- 
fers, (xxx. 13.) This city is frequently mentioned by the pro- 
phets, who foretell the miseries it was to suffer from the kings 
of Chaldea and Persia. (Isa. xix. 13. Jer. xliv. 1. Hosea ix. 
6. Ezek. xxx. 13. 16.) These prophecies have been strictly 
fulfilled, the city having been taken and almost ruined by 
Cambyses, and other conquerors; and being now so com- 
pletely destroyed, that the spot on which it stood is not cer- 
tainly known. Jeremiah said, "Noph shall be waste and 



232 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



OPH 



desolate, without an inhabitant ;" and not a family or a cot- 
tage now remains. Only some traces of ancient ruins are 
found, to mark the place where it is supposed the great city 
once stood in its pride and magnificence. 

Nophah, a city of Moab, belonging to the Amorites ; after* 
wards possessed by the children of Israel. Numb. xxi. 30. 

Nophet, a city of Manasseh. 

O. 

Oboth, an encampment of the Israelites in the wilderness* 
between Punon and Ije-abarim. Numb. xxi. 10. xxxiii. 43. 

Olives, Mount of: a hill situated nearly a mile east of 
Jerusalem, the brook Kidron running between it and the city 
There are three summits to Mount Olivet, or it consists of 
three hills ranged one after another from north to south, of 
which the northern is the highest. It was from the middle 
summit that our Saviour ascended to heaven ; and over the 
place of ascension is erected a small building, adjoining to 
which is a Turkish mosque. The southern summit was that 
on which Solomon built temples to the gods of the Moabites 
and Amorites, (1 Kings xi. 7.) and hence this is called the 
Mount of Corruption. (2 Kings xxiii. 13.) On Mount Olivet 
are yet shown caverns cut under ground, called the sepul- 
chres of the prophets ; and twelve arched vaults standing side? 
by side, built in memory of the apostles, who are said to have 
compiled their creed in this place ; also the spot where Christ 
uttered his prophecy concerning the final destruction of Jeru- 
salem, of which city there is a full view from the top of this 
mountain. The places called Gethsemane, Bethphage, and 
Bethany, were all on or about the Mount of Olives. 

On, a city of Egypt. See Part I. p. 39. 

Ono> a city of Benjamin. 1 Chron. viii. 12. 

Ophir, a country celebrated in Scripture for its gold, the 
situation of which is doubtful, though it has been the subject 
of much inquiry ; and about which many conjectures have 
been proposed by the learned. It is generally thought to have 
taken its name from Ophir, the son of Joktan ; and we are 
told in Scripture, that the thirteen sons of Joktan dwelt from 
Mesha to Sephar, a mountain of the east. (Gen. x. 30.) But 
as Mesha and Sephar are places as much unknown as Ophir 
itself, it has been necessary to look to other circumstances 
relating to this country, in order to discover its situation. 
From an examination of the passages of Scripture, in which 



OPH DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 233 

mention is made of this country, it appears : 1. That the same 
ships which went to Tarshish, went also to Ophir. (1 Kings 
xxii. 48. 2 Chron. xx. 36. 1 Kings ix. 28. x. 22.) 2. That 
these ships set out from Ezion-gaber, a port on the Red Sea, 
and after a voyage of three years, returned freighted with 
gold, peacocks, apes, spices, ivory and ebony. (2 Chron. viii. 
18. ix. 21.) 3. That the gold of Ophir was more esteemed 
than any other gold mentioned in Scripture, and that it was 
more abundant in that country than any other known at that 
time. By these tokens, search has been made for the country 
of Ophir ; and we shall give a brief sketch of the conclusions 
of some of the learned writers on this subject 

It is asserted by Josephus that Ophir is in the Indies ; but 
as tills is a very indefinite term, it is uncertain to what country 
of India he refers. Accordingly a host of commentators have 
given us their labours in explanation, almost every one fixing 
upon a different country, and proving, to his own satisfaction 
at least, that it was the real Ophir. Malacca, Celebes, Ma- 
labar, the island of Ceylon, Pegu, Java, Sumatra, Siam, and 
Bengal, have all had their adv&ates. Others have looked in 
quite another direction, and have found Ophir in the island of 
Hispaniola, Cuba, and in Peru. Some have chosen Africa, 
and have placed it on the eastern coast, in Sofala or Mozam- 
bique; while others have made Solomon's ships double the 
Cape of Good Hope, and sail to Guinea and the gold coast, on 
the west. Others, still more adventurous, have pursued the 
same course around Africa, and entering the Straits of Gib- 
raltar, have found Ophir on the Barbary coast of the Medi- 
terranean, or in Spain. Calmet supposes that Ophir was 
somewhere in Armenia, and that the gold was brought down 
to the Persian Gulf and there put on board the ships ; and 
that they took in their apes, ebony, and peacocks, on the coast 
of African Ethiopia, and" their ivory and spices in Arabia, on 
their return to the Red Sea. Dr. Wells is sanguine in sup- 
port of his theory, that the vessels sailed some distance up the 
river Indus, and there took in their cargoes. Mr. Bruce 
thinks Ophir was at Sofala, on the east of Africa, and proves 
that the voyage could not have been made by such ships as 
those of Solomon, against the periodical moonsoons which 
blow in those regions, in less than three years. He mentions 
a place on the coast of Abyssinia, which he calls Tarshish, 
where he supposes the vessels stopped for some time on their 
voyage. Dr. Doeg has very ingeniously proved that the ships 

U2 



234 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



PAL 



of Solomon sailed from the Red Sea round Africa, entering 
the Mediterranean, and, visiting the colony of Tarshish settled 
in Spain at Tartessus, there took in part of their lading, and 
probably obtained the rest along the coast of Africa on their 
return. This indeed is not improbable, as the ships were na- 
vigated by Tyrians and Phenicians, who were a sea-faring 
people, and by far the most commercial and enterprising of 
any nation of antiquity. It was the Phenician mariners who, 
according to Herodotus, conducted the ships of Pharaoh Necho, 
king of Egypt, from the Red Sea by the same passage round 
Africa, and entering the Straits of Gibraltar, returned to 
Egypt by the Mediterranean. This was about two centuries 
after the time of Solomon. There is a circumstance connect- 
ed with this voyage, which gives considerable weight to the 
truth of the relation. Herodotus says that the mariners re- 
ported a fact which, for his part, he could by no means believe 
to be true, namely, that in one part of the voyage their sha- 
dows fell the contrary way to what they usually did : a na- 
tural consequence of having crossed the equinoctial line, of the 
existence of which that ancient writer was probably ignorant. 
The fact of this voyage round Africa by the Phenician naviga- 
tors, proves them to have possessed sufficient courage and nau- 
tical skill, to perform the voyage in the time of Pharaoh, and 
why not then in the reign of Solomon ] Our limits will not 
allow us to pursue this subject further ; but from what has 
already been said, our readers will perceive that all attempts 
to determine the situation of the land of Ophir, must rest 
chiefly upon conjecture. 

Ophni, a city of Benjamin. Josh, xviii. 24. 

Ophrah, a city of Manasseh, and the native place of Gi- 
deon. (Judges vi. 11.) Also a town of Benjamin. Josh, xviii. 
23. 

Orthosias, a maritime city of Phenicia, opposite the 
island of Aradus, and near Tripolis. (1 Mace. xv. 37.) It is 
now called Tortosa, and still shows interesting antiquities. 



P. 

Padan-aram, a country supposed to lie in the north-west 
of Mesopotamia. Gen. xxviii. 2. 6. 

Palestine, a name properly denoting the country of the 
Philistines, but frequently used to designate the whole land 
of Canaan, otherwise called the Holy Land, or Judea. 

Palmyra, a city in the desert of Syria towards the Eu- 



PAL DICTIONARY OF THE BIELE. 285 

phrates, called in Scripture Tadmor, and built by Solomon. 
(1 Kings ix. 18.) Here was a stream of water and a fertile 
spot in the midst of that vast desert, and the place being con- 
venient for carrying on the trade with India, and also pre- 
serving the intercourse between the Mediterranean and Red 
Sea, a city was built here by that commercial and enterpri- 
sing monarch of the Hebrews. Its situation was extremely 
favourable for the caravan trade, and it soon became a rich 
and powerful city. It seems to have early passed out of the 
Jewish nation, probably soon after the death of Solomon, as 
the Hebrews were then engaged in civil dissensions, and were 
divided into two kingdoms. Tadmor then submitted to the 
dominion of the Babylonians and Persians, and afterwards to 
the Macedonians under Alexander, and the Seleucidse, his 
successors. But when the Roman power gained an ascen- 
dency in the east, and the Parthians seemed to limit their con- 
quests farther eastward, Palmyra enjoyed a free trade, and 
was undisturbed by the contending powers, probably in a great 
measure owing to its situation in the midst of a vast desert, 
where armies could not well subsist while they reduced it by 
force. With these advantages of freedom, neutrality and 
trade, for nearly two centuries, it acquired a state of wealth 
answerable to the magnificence of its noble structures. In 
the reign of Adrian it sided with the Romans against the Par- 
thians, and was much favoured and embellished by that em- 
peror. From this time to that of Aurelian, about 148 years, 
this city continued to flourish and increase in wealth and pow- 
er to such a degree, that the inhabitants brought a powerful 
army into the field to the assistance of the Romans against 
the Persians, for which service the emperor Gallienus gave a 
share in the empire to Odenathus, one of the lords of Palmyra. 
He, with his son, being murdered by a kinsman, his wife Ze- 
nobia assumed the government of the east; but, her ambitious 
designs displeasing the emperor Aurelian, he marched against 
her, and having in two battles routed her forces, he besieged 
her in Palmyra. The town was yielded to him, and Zenobia, 
flying with her son, was pursued and taken. Aurelian spared 
the city, and leaving a small garrison, marched for Rome with 
his captive. The inhabitants, believing he would not return, 
again asserted their independence, and killed the garrison he 
nad left in the city. Aurelian hearing of this, though already 
arrived in Europe, returned, destroyed the city, and put to the 
sword nearly all the inhabitants. After this it never revive^ 



236 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



PAM 




and gradually sunk into the state of a miserable village. It 
is now in ruins, and the splendour and magnificence of its 
porticoes, temples, and palaces which yet remain, have been 
the wonder of travellers, who describe them as the most beau- 
tiful in the world. 




Ruins of Palmyra. 

On these ruins are still found a great number of inscriptions, 
some in Greek, and others in the ancient Palmyrene charac- 
ters. The pillars are mostly of marble, from the mountains 
of Syria ; but there are some of porphyry, of great magnitude, 
and wonderful, considering the distance they must have been 
brought ; no quarries of that stone being known nearer than 
in Egypt, about midway between Cairo and Syene, between 
the Nile and the Red Sea. This stone is very valuable for 
colour and hardness, and the Egyptian quarries furnished blocks 
of any magnitude. 

Pamphylia, a province of Asia Minor; bounded north by 
Pisidia, east by Cilicia, south by the Mediterranean, and west 
by Lycia, and part of Phrygia. That part of the Mediterra- 
nean along its coast was called the sea of Pamphylia. (Acts 
xxvii. 5.) Perga was one of its cities, where Paul and Bar- 
nabas preached. (Acts xiii. 13.) The Pamphylians were a 
commercial people, and it is probable that many strangers 
flocked there, among whom were Jews, as we find " dwellers 
in Pamphylia" mentioned as having come to Jerusalem on 
the day of Pentecost. The country is fertile and well cul- 



PAR DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 237 

tivated ; but the lower part is extremely hot in summer, and 
the people retire to the mountains in the northern part of the 
province, which are a part of the range called Mount Taurus. 

Paneas, a city of Syria ; the same otherwise called Laish, 
Leshem, Dan, and Csesarea Philippi. 

Paphos, a city in the island of Cyprus, now called Baffo ; 
anciently famous for the worship of Venus. (See medals of 
Cyprus.) Paul and Barnabas preached here, and converted to 
Christianity Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul or deputy. 
Acts xiii. 6. 

Paran, a desert or wilderness south of the Land of Canaan. 
See Part I. p. 46. The Paran mentioned in Deut. i. 1. and 1 
Kings xi. 18. appears to have been a city, and is probably the 
same which Eusebius says gave name to the Desert of Paran, 
being situated in its neighbourhood. 

Parthia, a country lying east of Media, having Hyrcania 
on the north, Aria on the east, and the desert of Caramania on 
the south. This country was for a long time connected with 
Media, and together with it fell to the kings of Persia, being 
afterwards, with Persia, subdued by Alexander the Great ; it 
continued so until about 250 years before Christ, when Arsa- 
ces, a noble Parthian, wrested his own country, and the other 
provinces east of the Euphrates, from the Grae co-Syrian em- 
pire, and erected the Parthian kingdom. This new power 
became a troublesome enemy to the Romans, and sometimes 
carried its conquests from the Hellespont to the Euphrates, 
and even to the Indus ; on the other side triumphing over 
Egypt and Libya. The Parthians at length submitted to the 
Romans, under Augustus Csesar, so far as to receive for their 
kings such as should be appointed by the emperor and senate of 
Rome ; but this submission was not of long continuance. The 
government was overthrown by the Persians about A. D. 232, 
and in 640 the country was overrun by the Saracens. The 
ancient Parthia is now the Persian province of Irak ; and is a 
fine and healthy country, though rather hilly. The ancient 
Parthians were distinguished for the veneration they paid to 
their kings; and for their peculiar manner of fighting on 
horseback, when, pretending to retreat, they discharged their 
arrows with great precision and effect, shooting them back- 
wards over their heads. We find Jews from this country 
attending the Pentecost at Jerusalem, (Acts ii. 9.) where they 
appear as distinct from the Elamites or Persians. 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



PAT 





No. 1. 




No. 1. A medal of Parthia, representing the head of one of its kings; 
and on the reverse, objects and implements of worship, with guards 
standing on each side of the altar. The head of a man in the flame 
of the altar, seems to denote that the Parthians worshipped deities 
allied to those of India, as we sometimes find the head of the Hindoo 
deity Brahma surrounded with flames. This tends to strengthen the 
idea of the progress of idolatry from the east. 




No. 2. Similar in design to No. 1. The heads on these medals are 
said to be portraits of the kings of Parthia, in whose reign they were 
struck. In the globe worn by this head is a symbol, supposed to be 
that of a departed spirit, raised to divine honours. Among the deities 
of Egypt, we find very frequently a globe borne on the head, as by 
Isis, &c. The inscriptions on these medals are supposed to be the an- 
cient Persian characters. 

Parvaim, a place from which Solomon received gold. (2 
Chron. iii. 6.) It is thought to be the same as Ophir, or Ha- 
vilah. 

Pasdammim, (1 Chron. xi. 13.) the same as Ephesdammim, 
a city of Judah. 1 Sam. xvii. 1. 

Patara, a city of Lycia, in Asia Minor, once a sea-port 
with a good harbour. St. Paul arrived at this place from 



PEL DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 239 

Rhodes, and sailed hence to Phenicia. (Acts xxi. 1.) This 
city was beautified by many temples, one of which was dedi- 
cated to Apollo, and contained an oracle not much inferior in 
wealth and credit to that of Delphi. Patara, though once the 
capital of the province, is now an inconsiderable town. 

Pathros, a city and district of Upper Egypt, named from 
the Pathrusim, descendants of Misraim. (Gen. x. 14.) This 
place is mentioned in Isa. xi. 11. Jer. xliv. 1. 15. Ezek. xxix. 
14. xxx. 14. and appears to have been considered distinct from 
the Egypt of Scripture, which was the lower part of the 
country now called by that name. Pathros is believed to 
have been what is now called Upper Egypt, the Thebais of 
the Greeks. Some have thought the Pathros of Isa. xi. 11. 
to mean Arabia Petrea. 

Patmos, an island of the Archipelago or Egean Sea, near 
Samos. It has a good harbour, and is 25 or 30 miles in cir- 
cumference. To this island, as well as to others in different 
parts, did the Roman government confine offenders ; a punish- 
ment which was laid by the emperor Domitian on St. John 
the divine, who here wrote his revelation to the churches of 
Asia. (Rev. i. 9.) The Greek monks of the island yet show 
the cell or grotto in a rock, in which it is said he wrote, and 
which they call Apocalypsis. In this island is a large con- 
vent, with a college for the education of Greek monks or 
caloyers, who are spread over all Greece. They are said to 
be ignorant and superstitious, though they have great influ- 
ence over the people : scarcely a piratical vessel is without 
its caloyer or priest, to give absolution to its plundering and 
lawless crew for their murders and other crimes. The island 
of Patmos is exceedingly rocky, and but little cultivated : 
population about 3000. 

Pau, a city of Edom, where king Hadar dwelt. Gen. 
xxxvi. 39. 

Pelusium, a city of Egypt, called in Scripture Sin. (Ezek. 
xxx. 15, 16.) It was situated on the eastern channel of the 
Nile, thence called the Pelusiac branch, and was near its 
mouth. It was well fortified, and is styled by Ezekiel " the 
strength of Egypt." Being on the eastern frontier of the 
country, it generally suffered the first attack of the Assyrian, 
Babylonian, and Persian invaders. It was besieged by Sen- 
nacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and Cambyses; by the latter of 
.whom it was taken by a curious stratagem. He is said to have 
placed in front of his troops, when marching to the assault, a 



240 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



PER 



M 




number of those animals which were esteemed sacred by the 
Egyptians, such as cats, dogs, sheep, &c. by which means the 
Egyptian soldiers of the town were prevented from throwing 
their spears, or discharging their arrows on the assailants, by 
the fear of wounding or killing some of the sacred animals ; 
and the place was thus easily taken. 

The name Pelusium, is derived from the Greek Pelos, mud, 
and its Scripture name Sin, has in Syriac the same meaning, 
as has also the modern name of the place, which is called by 
the Arabs Tineh. According to some writers, Damietta 
stands nearly in the spot once occupied by Pelusium ; but this 
appears to be an error. Damietta is at least 50 miles distant, 
at the other end of lake Menzala. 

Peniel, or Penuel, a place east of Jordan, near the brook 
Jabbok. See Part I. p. 37. 

Pentapolis, the Jive cities, a name sometimes given to the 
district which contained the cities, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, 
Zeboim, and Bela or Zoar, which were destroyed by fire, vol- 
canic eruptions, and the sinking of the earth, on account of 
their great wickedness. See Part L p. 31. also Dead Sea, 

Perea, a general name for the country east of Jordan ; but 
which belonged particularly to that part of it lying south of 
Iturea, and which was once the possession of the tribes of 
Reuben and Gad. 

Perga, a city of Pamphylia in Asia Minor, visited by St. 
Paul and his company. (Acts xiii. 14.) This city was famous 
among the heathen for a temple of Diana, and the yearly fes- 
tivals there held in honour of her, whence she is sometimes 
styled Diana Pergsea. Here John, surnamed Mark, quitted 
Paul and Barnabas, and returned to Jerusalem. This was one 
of the most considerable towns of the province, and Christian 
churches appear to have been maintained in it till the close 
of the eighth century. 

Pergamus, a city of Mysia in the west of Asia Minor, and 
once the capital of the kingdom of Pergamus, which included 
the provinces of Mysia, JEolia, Ionia, Lydia, and Caria. This 
was once a noble city, and is celebrated as the native place 
of Galen, the famous physician. Here parchment was invent- 
ed, and the city had a library of 200,000 volumes, which had 
been collected by its kings. This noble collection was after- 
wards transported to Egypt by Cleopatra, and added to the 
Alexandrian library. Previous to the use of parchment, wri- 
tings were made upon papyrus, which was only manufactured 



PER 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



241 



in Egypt, and Ptolemy forbade its exportation from that coun- 
try, in order to prevent Eumenes, king of Pergamus, from 
making a library as valuable and choice as that of Alexandria. 
This gave rise to the invention of parchment at Pergamus, 
and it was thence called charta pergamena. The rival libra- 
ries of papyrus and parchment, united by Cleopatra, were 
fatally destroyed by the Saracens at Alexandria, A.D. 642. 

Christianity was early established at Pergamus, but the 
church appears to have departed from the purity of the gospel 
in the time of St. John the divine, as a severe doom is threat- 
ened against it. (Rev. ii. 12.) The place is now called Berga- 
mo, and presents many ruins which indicate its former magni- 
ficence. It yet contains a few families of Christians, who are 
much oppressed by the Turks ; the present population is about 
«3u00. 

Perizzites, a people of Canaan. See Part L p. 33. 




Ruins of Persepolis. 

Persepolis, the ancient capital of the Persian empire, sit- 
uated on the river Araxes, now called the Bendemeer ; and 
represented by the Greek writers as one of the richest and 
most magnificent cities in the world. It was taken by Alex- 
ander the Great, who here found 120,000 talents in silver and 
gold, which fell to his own share, after his soldiers had pil- 
laged the city and taken what they pleased in money and 
jewels to an immense amount. But the chief beauty of this 
city was the royal palace, built upon a hill surrounded by three 



242 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



PER 



walls, the first 16 cubits high, the second 30, and the third 
60 ; all of them of black polished marble, with battlements 
and towers. The palace was of exceeding beauty and mag- 
nificence, the roof shining with ivory, silver, gold, and amber; 
and the king's throne being wholly composed of gold and the 
richest pearls. This noble and splendid building, one of the 
greatest ornaments of the eastern world, was consumed with 
fire by Alexander in a drunken fit, at the instigation of Lais r 
a courtezan, by way of revenge for the cities which the Per- 
sians had formerly burnt in Greece. Though Alexander, when 
sober, repented of his rashness, and ordered that it should be 
rebuilt, yet it never rose to its former glory ; the conqueror 
dying shortly after, and the building being neglected. It 
appears to have soon fallen into ruin, as Quintus Curtius, who 
lived in the reign of Claudius Caesar, says that no trace of it 
could have been found, if not indicated by the river Araxes, 
on whose bank it stood. Modern travellers, however, have 
discovered at a place called Chel-minar, on the river Bende- 
meer or Araxes, the most magnificent ruins of a temple or 
palace that are now in existence on the face of the earth. 
They lie at the north end of that spacious plain where Per- 
sepolis once stood, and are generally conjectured to be the 
remains of that palace which was burnt by Alexander. Per- 
sepolis is mentioned in 2 Mace. ix. 1, 2., but probably there 
means Elymais, as Persepolis was in ruins before the time of 
Antiochus, being destroyed by Alexander ; whence it is pro- 
bable that the author has put Persepolis f6r the capital city 
of Persia, though its true name was then Elymais, which the 
Greek author might translate into Persepolis, which signifies 
the city of the Persians. 

Persia, an ancient and celebrated empire in Asia ; extend- 
ing from the Indus on the east, to the Euphrates on the west ; 
and from the Caspian Sea and Mount Caucasus north, to the 
Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean south ; being about 1800 
miles long, and 1100 broad. In the days of Ahasuerus, its 
extent was " from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred 
and seven-and -twenty provinces." (Esther i. 1.) This, how- 
ever, describes the Persian empire in its largest sense. Per- 
sia proper was only a province of this empire, and was bound- 
ed on the north by Media ; east by the deserts of Caramania ; 
south by the Persian Gulf; and west by Chaldea, or Susiana. 
This was the ancient Elam, so called from Elam, the son of 
Shem, from whom its first inhabitants were descended ; and 



PER DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 243 

by which name it is known in Scripture till the time of Daniel 
the prophet, who lived in the reign of Cyrus. This prince 
united the kingdoms of Persia and Media, and is generally 
considered the founder of the Persian empire, which from this 
time began to be called Persia. The name is supposed to be 
derived from Paras., or Peres, a horseman, as the inhabitants 
were much on horseback, and it is even said to have been con- 
sidered degrading in that country to be seen going on foot, 
From Peres, the Greeks formed their Persis, and the Latins 
Persia. 

The people of Elam, or Persia proper, appear to have main- 
tained an independent government for some centuries before 
they became subject to the Assyrian empire. From the domin- 
ion of the Assyrians they were partially delivered by Tiglath- 
Pileser ; but were conquered and annexed to the kingdom of 
Media by Phraortes. About 500 years before Christ, Persia 
and Media were united by Cyrus, the founder of the Persian 
empire, and by whom it was -raised to a high degree of power 
and dominion. Cyrus was succeeded hy Cambyses, who is 
called Ahasuerns, (Ezra iv. 6.) and after a reign of seven 
years and five months he was succeeded by Orohastes, or 
Smerdis the magian, called Artaxerxes. (Ezra iv. 7.) He was 
killed, after a reign of only five months, by seven conspirators, 
one of whom was Darius Hystaspes, who succeeded him. This 
Darius is called Ahasuerus in the Hebrew book of Esther, 
and Artaxerxes in the Greek of the same book. He reigned 
36 years, from the year of the, world 3482 to 3519, being suc- 
ceeded by Xerxes L, who reigned 12 years. His successor 
was Artaxerxes Longimanus, who reigned 48 years, from 
3531 to 3579. After him was Xerxes II. who reigned but one 
year, being murdered by his brother Sogdianus, who reigned 
seven months, and was succeeded by Oehus,.or Darius Nothus, 
who died in 3590, after a reign of 19 years. Next was Ar- 
taxerxes Mnemon, who reigned 43 years, being succeeded by 
Artaxerxes Ochus, from 3643 to 3666 ; after whom was Arses, 
who reigned three years, and died in 3668. His successor 
was Darius Codomanus, who reigned six years, and was con- 
quered by Alexander the Great in 3674, which ended the 
empire of Persia, and made it tributary to the Greeks. After 
the death of Alexander, when the Macedonian empire was 
divided among his officers, Seleucus Nicanor made himself 
master of the Persian provinces, till the revolt of the Par- 
£hians introduced new revolutions in the east. Persia was 



241 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



PER 



partly reconquered from the Greeks, and remained tributary 
to the Parthians for nearly 500 years. After this, the sove- 
reignty was again placed in the hands of the Persians by the 
revolt of Artaxerxes, a common soldier, A. D. 229, who 
became the founder of the second Persian monarchy, which 
proved so inimical to the power of the Roman emperors, 
About A. D. 640, Persia was conquered by the Saracens, and 
submitted to the Mahometan dominion and religion, in which 
state it still continues. 

Authors speak differently of the religion of the ancient Per- 
sians. According to Herodotus, they had neither temples, 
altars, nor statues, neither would they suffer any to be made, 
because they did not believe, as the Greeks did, that the gods 
were of human origin. They sacrificed on the highest moun- 
tains, and gave the name of God to the whole circuit of the 
heavens. They sacrificed also to the sun, the moon, the earth, 
and the water ; and knew no other gods anciently but these. 
They afterwards learned from the Syrians and Arabians to 
sacrifice to Astarte, Urania, or Venus. Some modern authors 
think the ancient Persians had just notions concerning the 
deity, and believed in one God ; and that the worship of the 
sun and the fire was merely relative* The Persians refer 
their religion to Zoroaster, who is thought by some to have 
been the same as Abraham ; though others believe him to have 
been the pupil of Abraham. There seem to have been two 
persons named Zoroaster ; the first, the founder of this ancient 
religion, and of whom are recorded miracles and prophecies ; 
the second, a reformer of that religion, who lived in the time 
of Darius Hystaspes. The doctrine of Zoroaster teaches that 
the world was created in six days, that at the beginning God 
created a man and a woman, that there have been several ter- 
restrial paradises, one universal deluge, one Moses and one 
Solomon. All this, however, the second Zoroaster may have 
taken from the history of the Jews. They hold the doctrine 
of two opposite principles or spirits, whom they call Ormusd 
ind Ahriman, a good and an evil, who divide between them 
the government of the universe ; but that finally the good will 
prevail over the evil. This Ormusd is the true God, called by 
the Arabians Allah, the author of all good ; and Ahriman is 
the Eblis of the Arabians, the devil, the author of all evil. 
These doctrines of Zoroaster are still held in Persia by the 
Magians and Guebras, who are worshippers of fire and of the 
sun, and have never submitted to the religion of Mahomet. 



MAA 



DICTIONARY OF THE EIBLS. 



245 




In their national character the Persians were warlike ; they 
were early taught to ride, and to handle the bow, and were 
inured to bear the toils and fatigues of a military life. Their 
national valour, however, soon degenerated, and their want 
of employment at home, and their indulgence in luxury, ren- 
derd them unfit for war. In the reign of Xerxes, when the 
empire was in its most flourishing state, a small number of 
Greeks was able to repel an almost innumerable army of 
Persians. 

The climate of this country is various. The mountainous 
parts are cold and dry ; but in the south, from the Persian 
Gulf to the mouth of the Indus, the heat in summer is exces^ 
sive. In the regions around Shiraz, the climate is said to be 
delightful, and the extremes of heat and cold unknown. Many 
parts of the country are fertile, and produce grain, fruits, and 
wine. The government is an absolute monarchy, the lives 
and estates of the people being entirely at the disposal of the 
reigning prince. The Persians are generally handsome and 
well shaped, and their manners very different from the Turks, 
whom they hold in great abhorrence, esteeming Jews and 
Christians much superior to them, and much nearer salvation. 
Though Mahometans, like the Turks, they are of the sect of 
Ali, between which, and the sect of Omar, to which the Turks 
belong, there exists all the enmity of sectarian prejudice and 
fanatical rancour. While a rude and insolent demeanour 
towards foreigners and Christians, marks the Turkish charac- 
V 2 



246 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



PER 



rt 






ter, the Persians are courteous to strangers, and free from those 
religious prejudices so prevalent in other Mahometan coun- 
tries. They are hospitable to travellers, are fond of inquiring 
after the manners and customs of Europe, and in return readily 
afford information respecting their own country. The Persians 
excel in poetry : astrologers are said to be in great reputation 
among them. The art of printing has not yet been introduced 
into this country, but they excel in writing, having eight dif- 
ferent hands, and their manuscripts are very beautiful. They 
write like the Arabs and other eastern nations, from right to left. 

Ancient medals of Persia are yet in existence, which bear the figure 
of a ram, as the emblem of the Persian nation, and prove that Daniel 
employed the proper type of Persian dominion, when predicting its 
overthrow by the single-horned goat of Macedonia. This ram had two 
horns, "one of which was higher than the other, and the higher came 
up last." (Dan. viii. 3.) These were the kingdoms of Media and Persia, 
united under Cyrus, of which the Persian exceeded in power. 

No. 1. An engraving from 
an ancient gem, representing 
the appropriate symbols of 
Persia and Macedonia, under 
the figures of a ram, and a 
goat with one horn. This gem 
was probably engraved in the 
time of Alexander the Great, 
and denotes the union of Per- 
sia and Macedonia under the 
same empire. We offer it as 
affording a remarkable illus- 
tration of the emblems em- 
ployed by Daniel the prophet, 
to signify those two kingdoms. 





PHE 



DICTIONARY OF THE EIBLE. 



247 




No. 2. A representation of the ancient Persian deity Anammelech, 
the king of the clouds, the "god of Sepharvaim," (2 Kings xvii. 31.) who 
is represented in conversation with a human person, apparently of high 
rank and office ; and is probably intended to signify an appearance of 
the deity, come down from the sun, to commune with one of his wor- 
shippers. The figure of the sun, and of the altar, seem to confirm this 
supposition. 

No. 3. A figure sculp- 
tured at the entrance 
of the palace at Perse- 
polis, and yet existing 
there. It has the an- 
cient cherubic form, 
as represented attend- 
ing on majesty ; name- 
ly, the human head, 
the eagle's wings, and 
the body and legs of 
the ox. This appear? 
to confirm the idea 
which we have else- 
where noticed, that 
the cherubic figure was not peculiar to the Hebrews, but existed also in 
other eastern nations. 

Pethor, the city of Balaam. See Part I. p. 54. 
Pharathoni, a city of Ephraim, (1 Mace. ix. 50.) called 
Pirathon. Judges xii. 15. 

Pharpar, or Fharphar, a river of Syria, near Damascus, 
which unites with the Abana, called by the Greeks Chry- 
sorrhoas, and now named the Barrady. See Abana. 

Phemce, a port in the south-west of the island of Crete, 
where St. Paul, in his voyage to Rome, advised the ship's 
crew to spend the winter, because the season was too far 
advanced to pursue their voyage with safety ; (Acts xxvii.) 
but neglecting his advice, they were shipwrecked at Melita. 
Phenicia, or Phoenicia, a province of Syria, on the coast 
of the Mediterranean, the boundaries of which appear to have 
varied at different times ; by some writers appearing to extend 
from Orthosia as far south as Pelusium on the borders of 
Egypt ; and by others its southern limit has been Mount Car- 
mel and Ptolemais. After the conquest of the Land of Ca- 
naan by the Hebrews, the limits of Phenicia were narrow, 
and it had nothing of the country of the Philistines, who 
occupied the country from Mount Carmel to the borders of 
Egypt. Neither could it then have extended far inland, for 
the Israelites, having possession of Galilee, confined the Phe- 
nicians to the coast of the Mediterranean. 



248 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. PHI 

According to Herodotus, the Phenicians were seated on the 
Eed Sea before they came to the Mediterranean, where they 
addicted themselves to navigation and commerce. Justin 
also says, the Tyrians were a people conducted by a chief 
named Phamix, who left their native land on account of the 
earthquakes to which it was subject. They first settled on 
the Assyrian lake, sea of Tiberias, and afterwards on the shore 
of the Mediterranean, where they built a city which they 
named Sidona. 

The Phenicians preserved their independence, not only 
under Joshua, but also under David, Solomon, and the other 
kings of the Jewish nation. They were, however, subdued 
by the kings of Assyria and Chaldea, and afterwards were 
successively under the dominion of the Persians, Greeks, 
Romans, Saracens, and Turks ; not having had any kings of 
their own for more than 2000 years. Their chief cities were 
Sidon, Tyre, Ptolemais, Berytus, Tripolis, Orthosia, &c. 
They were naturally an industrious people, and commerce 
and navigation were among them in the most flourishing 
state. They planted many colonies on the shores of the 
Mediterranean, particularly at Carthage and Utica in Africa, 
Marseilles in France, and several places in Spain, both within 
and without the Straits of Gibraltar. Their commerce, 
besides extending to all parts of the Euxine and the Mediter-* 
ranean, reached even to the British isles, and to the shores 
of the Baltic. The ships of Solomon were navigated by 
Phenicians. They were also eminent in manufactures : the 
purple of Tyre, the glass of Sidon, their fine linens, and curi- 
ous specimens of art in metals and wood, gave them such a 
superiority over the manufactures of other nations, that among 
the ancients, whatever was elegant, great, or pleasing, either 
in apparel or domestic utensils, received the epithet of Sido- 
nian. The language of the Phenicians appears to have had 
little affinity to the other oriental tongues used in Arabia, 
Syria, &c. It was a dialect of the Hebrew, the same as that 
of the ancient Canaanites, and their letters or characters very 
nearly resembled those of the Samaritans. Their letters 
were the same in number as the Hebrew, but their form was 
larger, and they were more conformable to those of very an- 
cient Greek inscriptions. 

Philadelphia, a city of Lydia m Asia Minor, 27 miles 
south-east of Sardis, and 40 from Smyrna. Its church seems 
to have been noted, in gospel times, for the purity of its faith 



t 

PHI DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 249 

and practice ; and in the address to this church, (Rev. iii. 7.) 
it is commended for its zeal, and not blamed for any vice. 
Like the other cities of this country, Philadelphia has under- 
gone many changes and revolutions. It was named from its 
tbunder Attalus Philadelphus, brother of Eumenes, king of 
Pergamus. In the times of the Greek empire, it was fre- 
quently besieged in the wars with the Saracens and Turks ; 
and in 1391 this city singly refused to admit Bajazet ; but 
wanting provisions, was forced to capitulate. It was once 
well fortified, but has suffered much from earthquakes, and 
many parts of the city wall are yet standing, having large 
gaps rent in them by the violent concussions of the earth. It 
is yet a town of considerable extent, and being situated on 
one of the principal -roads to Smyrna, is much frequented, 
especially by Armenian merchants. Among the inhabitants 
of this place are many Greek Christians, who live in friendly 
intercourse with the Turks, and have twelve churches, and a 
bishop. 

Philadelphia, a city east of Jordan, so called by the Greeks ; 
being the same as Rabbath, the ancient capital of the Am- 
monites. 

Philippi, a city of Macedonia, so called from Philip, king 
of Macedon, who repaired and beautified it, with the design 
of making it a barrier against the Thracians. Its former name 
was Dathos. In process of time it became a Roman colony, 
and was famous for two great battles fought near it, one 
between Julius Csesar and Pompey, and the other between 
Augustus and Antony, on one side, and Cassius and Brutus 
on the other. St. Paul visited Philippi, and there converted 
several people; he also cured a servant maid, who had a 
familiar spirit, by which she foretold future events. Certain 
persons having stirred up the whole city against Paul, he was 
imprisoned ; but having been informed that he was a Roman 
citizen, the magistrates liberated him, and made an apology 
for their ill treatment. (Acts xvi.) The -Philippians appear 
to have been afterwards very grateful for the grace received 
from God, by the ministry of St. Paul. They assisted him on 
several occasions, and he appears to have regarded them with 
great affection, as his epistle to them is, of all his letters, the 
most pathetic, and full of kind and affectionate expressions. 
This city is now a scene of ruins ; few inhabitants remain ; 
but the ruins of temples, palaces, and other magnificent 
edifices of marble, attest its former splendour. 



,1 



250 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. PHR 

Philistines, a people inhabiting the western part of Ca- 
naan along the coast ; having five lordships or governments, 
named from their principal ^owns, Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, 
Gath, and Ekron. The Philistines were descendants of the 
Casluhim and Caphtorim, of the family of Misraim, the son of 
Ham, and so brother to Canaan, the father of the Canaanites. 
(Gen. x. 6. 14.) We learn also from Gen. x.19. that the 
coast from Sidon to Gaza originally belonged to the Canaan- 
ites ; whence it follows that the Philistines must have become 
masters of it by dispossessing the Canaanites, the original in- 
habitants. This is probable, as the Philistines, being descend- 
ed from Misraim, were settled in Egypt, or the parts adjoin- 
ing on the south-west of Canaan. (See Casluhim and Caph- 
torim, Part I. p. 26.) Some writers have conjectured that 
the Philistines were a branch of the Palli, or shepherds 
who invaded Egypt from the east, in a remote period of 
antiquity ; and that a colony of them occupied the southern 
coast of Judea. The time of their coming into the Land of 
Canaan is not known, but they appear to have been there a 
long time before Abraham came thither in the year of the 
world 2083, as they then had kings, and were in possession 
of several considerable cities. (Gen. xx. 2. xxvi. 1.) On the 
conquest of the country by Joshua, they were not driven out, 
and were almost constantly at war with the Israelites ; and 
though subdued by David, and kept in subjection by some of 
the succeeding kings, yet they frequently revolted, and con- 
tinued to harass the He'orew government as . long as it con- 
tinued ; being " thorns in their sides," as had been foretold as 
a punishment for their disobedience. (Judges ii. 3.) After 
the Hebrews had been carried into captivity, the Philistines 
probably took possession of a great part of the country, and 
appear to have become so considerable, that from them the 
Holy Land was called by the Greeks, Palestine, under which 
name it frequently occurs in Greek and Latin writers. 

Phrygia, a region in Asia Minor, bounded north by Bithy- 
nia, east by Galatia and Lycaonia, south by Pisidia and Lycia, 
and west by Caria, Lydia, and Mysia. Its chief cities were 
Laodicea, Colossae, and Hierapolis. Phrygia is frequently 
mentioned in the New Testament, as St. Paul travelled much 
in it, and established many churches. This country was di- 
vided into Phrygia the greater, called also Pacatiana, and 
Phrygia the lesser. According to Joseph us and other writers, 
it was peopled by the descendants of Togarmah, the son ot 



PON DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 251 

Gomer, and grandson of Japhet ; and the Phrygians accounted 
themselves as one of the most ancient nations in the world. 
They were of a servile disposition, and could only be kept to 
their duty by beating ; whence came the proverb, sero sapiunt 
Phryges, the Phrygians are wise too late ; or as Cicero says, 
made wise only by sufferings. For 2500 years they have 
been subject to the Lydians, the Persians, the Greeks, the 
Romans, and the Turks, the latter of whom still hold them 
in subjection. 

Phut, the son of Ham, whose posterity settled in Africa. 
See Part I. p. 26. 

Pibeseth, a city of Egypt, situated south of Sin or Pelu- 
sium, and on the same branch of the Nile. (Ezek. xxx. 17.) 
It was also called Bubastis, which word signifies a she cat, 
under which form Diana was worshipped in Egypt. But others 
say that it signifies also a cow, and that the city was built in 
honour of Isis, who was here worshipped under that form. 

Pi-hahiroth, an encampment of the Israelites, near the 
Red Sea. See Part L p. 43. 

Pirathon, a city of Ephraim, the native place of Abdon, a 
judge of Israel, who was buried there. (Judges xii. 15.) It is 
called Pharathoni, in 1 Mace. ix. 50. 

Pisgah, a celebrated mountain, east of Jordan. See Part I. 
p. 49. 

Pisldia, a province of Asia Minor, bounded north and 
north-east by Phrygia and Lycaonia, south by Pamphylia, and 
west by Phrygia. Its principal city was Antioch, where Paul 
preached. (Acts xiii. 14. xiv. 24.) This country was once 
flourishing and populous, and Christianity was maintained 
here for seven or eight centuries. 

Pison, one of the four rivers of Eden. See Part I. p. 11. 

Pithom, one of the cities built for Pharaoh, by the children 
of Israel, while in Egypt. See Part I. p. 40. 

Pontus, an extensive province in Asia Minor, on the south- 
ern shore of the Euxine, or Black Sea, called here the Pontic 
Sea ; having Colchis and Armenia on the east, Cappadocia 
south, and Paphlagonia and Galatia west. Christianity was 
early established in this country, as we find the first epistle 
of Peter addressed to the faithful of Pontus, and the neigh- 
bouring provinces. (1 Peter i. 1.) This country revolted from 
the Persians, and became an independent kingdom ; being in 
its most flourishing state under Mithridates the Great. It was 
afterwards conquered by Julius Csesar, and became a Roman 

v 



252 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. PTO 

province, though it was often governed by monarchs tributary 
to Rome. Under the emperors a regular governor was al- 
ways appointed over it. In this province was the city of 
Cerasus, from which cherries were first brought to Europe, 
and derived their name cerasa, Latin, cerises, French, from 
the name of the city. 

Pools of Solomon, See Bethlehem. 

Potter's Field, also called Aceldama, the field of blood, 
(Matt, xxvii. 7, 8. Acts i. 19.) a field purchased with the sil- 
ver which had been given as the price of our Saviour's blood. 
It lay at the foot of Mount Zion, on the west side of the val- 
ley of Hinnom, and is yet shown at Jerusalem. It is a small 
piece of ground, not more than thirty yards long, and about 
half as broad. There is yet standing on it a square fabric, 
built for a charnel-house, into which the corpses are let down 
from the top. The Armenian Christians now possess this 
burying-place, for which they pay the Turks a rent of one 
sequin a day. 

Ptolemais, originally called Accho, a maritime city in the 
tribe of Asher, north of Mount Carmel, 27 miles south of 
Tyre, and 70 north of Jerusalem. The original inhabitants 
of this place were not driven out by the Israelites. Judges i. 31. 

This city was afterwards called Ptolemais, from Ptolemy, 
king of Egypt, who enlarged and strengthened it ; but after 
falling under the dominion of the Turks, it followed the ex- 
ample of many other cities, which, in like circumstances, cast 
off their Greek name, and took one similar to the ancient 
Hebrew appellation, being called Acca, Acra, or Acre. It was 
visited by the apostle Paul, (Acts xxi. 7.) being then known 
by its Greek name, Ptolemais. 

The situation of Accho was very advantageous; on the 
north and east it was encompassed by a spacious and fertile 
plain, on the west by the Mediterranean, and on the south by 
a large bay which extended from the city to Mount Carmel. 
It was strongly fortified, and had a convenient harbour. This 
city has many times changed masters, having been succes- 
sively under the dominion of the Romans, the Saracens, the 
Christians, and the Turks. During the time of the crusades 
it was the scene of bloody contests between the Christians 
and the infidels. It was attacked by the fleets and armies of 
the Crusaders in the year 1189, and after a siege of two years 
was taken by the combined forces of Philip of France, and 
Richard of England ; but not till 100,000 Christians had fallen 






PTO 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



253 



in battle, and a greater number perished by disease. Under 
the dominion of the Crusaders, it was much strengthened and 
improved- The tutelar saint of the city was St. John, whence 
it has been sometimes called, St. John d'Acre. 

In the year 1291, this place was invested by the Turks, 
with a powerful army. After a siege of thirty-three days, the 
walls and towers were demolished, the city was taken, and 
60,000 Christians devoted to death or slavery. The town was 
entirely laid in ruins by the Turks, and remained almost de- 
solate till about the year 1750, when it was again fortified by 
Daher, an Arabian chief. Here he maintained his indepen- 
dence against the whole force of the Ottoman empire, until 
basely assassinated in 1775. It was afterwards still furthei 
strengthened with fortifications by the famous Djezzar Pacha< 
who was assisted by Sir Sidney Smith, an English officer, in 
his defenee against Bonaparte. Its inhabitants are about 40,000 
there are here six Christian churches. The Jews also have 
a synagogue. The streets are very narrow. The port is one of 
the best on the coast ; and the trade is considerable. 

No. 1. Shows the head of 
Alexander on one side ; and 
on the other, the inscription 
Alexandrou, with the two 
first Phenician letters of the 
name of the city, Ak or Ok, 
for Accho, also the date, 
supposed to be 26, i. e. 16 or 
17 years after the death 
of Alexander. This medal 
was probably struck on the 
occasion of a festival in 
honour of Alexander; such worship was paid to him while living, and 
was long continued after his death. 

No. 2. A medal 
of Claudius, with 
the ceremony of 
driving the oxen, 
which was part 
of that constitut- 
ing a colony. The 
numbers of the 
Roman legions es- 
tablished here and 
in Syria, are mark- 
ed on the ensigns 
But the most re- 
markable particu- 
lar for our observation is, that Claudius is called Divos, a deity, during 

w 





254 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



RAB 






his life-time. This is uncommon, but shows to what a height of 
flattery these Asiatics had attained. The same title is given to Herod, 
in person, Acts xii. 22. 

Pul, or Phul, (Isa. lxvi. 19.) supposed to be an island in 
the Nile, called Phila?, not far from Syene. It is probable 
that the people called Pul, in Scripture, inhabited not only 
this island, but also the adjacent country. On the island are 
rains of very noble and extensive temples, built by the ancient 
Egyptians. The Phul are probably represented in Egypt to 
this day, by the Pholahs or Fellahs, who are mostly husband- 
men and cultivators of the soil. 

Punon, an encampment of the Israelites in the desert, east 
of Edom. (Numb, xxxiii. 42.) This name is also written 
Phunon, and Pkinon, and may have received its name from 
Phinon, a duke of Edom. (Gen. xxxvi. 41.) Eusebius calls 
the place Phanos, and says there were mines of metals there, 

Puteoli, a city in Italy, where Paul stayed a w T eek in his 
journey to Rome. (Acts xxviii. 13.) It is now called Pozzuoli, 
and is situated near Naples; being yet famous for its natural 
hot baths, in which it is said the water is of sufficient heat to 
boil eggs. These hot springs are many in number, and were 
celebrated in the time of Nero. They are eighteen miles 
from Mount Vesuvius, and probably receive their heat from 
the same subterranean fires which produce that volcano. 
From these baths, or pits of water, in Latin putei, the town 
probably took its name of Puteoli. It has suffered much from 
volcanoes and earthquakes; but vast ruins are yet visible, 
among which are the baths of Nero, and Cicero's villa ; also 
a temple of Jupiter Serapis, an interesting monument of an- 
tiquity, being in a style of architecture different from the 
Greek and Roman temples, and built in the manner of the 
Asiatics, probably by Egyptian and Asiatic merchants settled 
at this place, which was once a great emporium of com- 
merce. 



R. * 

Raamah, a place (Ezek. xxvii. 22.) probably named from 
Raamah, the son of Cush. See Part I. p. 24. 

Raamses, a city of Egypt, (Exod. i. 11.) supposed to be the 
same as Rameses. 

Rabbah, or Rabbath, sometimes called Rabbath-Ammon, 
the capital city of the Ammonites, situated east of Jordan, 
and not far from the head of the river Arnon. (DeuUiii. 11. 



MAO DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. » 255 

2 Sam. xi. 1.) It was taken by David, (2 Sam. xii. 29.) and 
was from that time subject to the kings of Israel, until the 
capture of the tribes east of Jordan, by Tiglath-Pileser, when 
the Ammonites practised great cruelties against the few 
Hebrews that still remained in that country. Hence we find 
the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel pronouncing severely 
against Rabbah. It was taken by Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
king of Egypt, who named it Philadelphia; and about 170 
years before Christ, was again taken by Antiochus, king of 
Syria. 

Rabbath-moab, the capital of the Moabites, called also Ar 
which see. 

Rabbah, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 60.) and another in 
Issachar, written Rahbith. Josh, xix. 20. 

Rachal, a city of Judah. 1 Sam. xxx, 29. 
" Rages, a city of Media, (Tobit i.) near which were pro- 
bably situated the plains of Ragmi, mentioned in Judith i. 5, 
<&c. It is conjectured that this city was built by Reu, the 
son of Peleg ; as the sons of Arphaxad, of whom came Peleg, 
the father of Reu, settled in these and the adjacent parts; and 
Reu is translated by the LXX, Ragau. In the beginning of 
the book of Judith, too, we have Arphaxad mentioned as 
reigning over the Medes in Ecbatana, that name probably 
having been given to this king in honour and memory of 
their great ancestor, Arphaxad, the son of Shem, and grand- 
son of Noah. 

This is supposed to be the city called at present Rey, in- 
habited by a polite and commercial people, who manufacture 
. fine linen, cotton, and camblets, which are sent to all parts of 
the world. The Persians call it the market of the universe ; 
and if so in the days of Tobit, it is no wonder that Jews were 
found there. 

Rahab, that tract of Lower Egypt called Delta by the 
Greeks. Psalm lxxxvii. 4. Ixxxix. 10. Isa. li. 9. 

Rakkath, a city of JNaphtali, (Josh. xix. 35.) thought to be 
the same as Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee. 

Rakkon, a city of Dan. Josh. xix. 46. 

Ramah, a city of Benjamin, not far from Gibeon. (Josh, 
xviii. 25. Judges iv. 5. xix. 13.) It was situated on the road 
from Jerusalem to Samaria, and was rebuilt and fortified by 
Baasha, king of Israel, (1 Kings xv. 17.) that he might pre- 
vent communication with the king of Judah. 

Ramah, in Mount Ephraim, called also Ramathaiin-aophim, 




k 



256 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



RED 

See 



the place where Samuel was born. (1 Sam. i. I. 19.) 
Arimathea. 

Ramahy a city in the borders of Asher and Naphtali, (Josh, 
xix. 29. 36.) though it is probable there was a place of this 
name in each of these tribes. 

Rameses, a city of Egypt, probably in the Land of Goshen. 
See Part I. p. 39. 

Ramoth, a city in the tribe of Gad, called also Ramoth- 
Gilead, and Ramoth-Mizpeh, from its situation near the moun- 
tains of Gi]ead, and the land of Mizpeh. (Josh. xxi. 3& xiiL 
26.) This place is frequently mentioned in Scripture, par- 
ticularly in the books of Kings and Chronicles. It was 
situated east of Jordan, near the brook Jabbok. 

Ramoth-negebh, Ramoth of the south, a city of Simeon. 
Josh. xix. 8. 

Raphon, a place east of Jordan, in the neighbourhood of 
Carnaim, and not far from the brook Jabbok. Here Judas 
Maccabeus had his camp before he obtained the victory over 
Timotheus. 1 Mace. v. 37. 

Red- Sea, a branch of the Arabian Sea, or of that part of 
the Indian Ocean between the coast of Africa and India r ex- 
tending towards the Mediterranean, and interposing between 
Egypt on the west, and Arabia on the east. Its Hebrew 
name is Jam-Suph, the weedy sea, from the abundance of 
sea-weed found in it. The country of Edom was adjacent to 
this sea, and the name Edom, in Hebrew, signifies red, being 
a name given to Esau after he had sold his birthright for a 
mess of red pottage. Hence it was called the Sea of Edom. 
which in process of time became the Erythraean Sea, eryihrus, 
in Greek, denoting red. Hence the Latins, according to the 
signification of the Greek name, called it Rubrum Mare, and 
we from them call it the Red Sea. The Arabs call it Bahr 
el Colzum, the sea of drowning or overwhelming, probably 
in memory of the destruction of the Egyptians who pursued 
the Israelites. We have already mentioned the miraculous 
passage of the Israelites through this sea, (Part L p. 43.) and 
have related a tradition spoken of by Biodorus, as existing 
among the ancient inhabitants of the adjacent regions. We 
cannot suppose this pagan is writing in favour of revelation. 
He knew not Moses, neither says he a word about Pharaoh 
and bis host ; and yet he records the miracle of the division of 
the sea in strong and plain terms, and from the mouths of 
unbiassed and undesigning pagans. 



REU DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 257 

With respect to the width of the Red Sea where the Israel- 
ites crossed it, modern travellers describe it to be about twelve 
miles. One of them says, " From the fountains of Moses, 
which are seven or eight hours journey southward from Suez, 
may now be seen the aperture of the mountain on the west- 
ern side of the sea, through which Israel passed into the 
water. This aperture is west-south-west from the fountains ; 
the breadth of the sea there is about four or five hours 
travel." 

The length of the Red Sea, from the Strait of Babelman- 
del to Suez, is about 1400 miles, and its general breadth about 
120. It terminates towards the north in two arms or 
branches ; the Gulf of Elath on the east, and that of Suez on 
the west, of which the latter is much the longest, and was 
the branch crossed by the Israelites. The tide here is said 
never to rise more than three feet and a half. 

Rehob, two cities in the tribe of Asher are mentioned by 
this name. (Josh. xix. 28. 30.) They were situated in the 
north, and near them in the adjoining part of Syria, was pro- 
bably the kingdom of Rehob, mentioned in 2 Sam. x. 6. 8. 

Rehobotii, an ancient city, built about the same time as 
Nineveh, and in the same country. It is uncertain whether 
it was situated on the Tigris or the Euphrates. A city of this 
name is also mentioned, (Gen. xxxvi. 37.) where Saul, king 
of Edom, was born. It is not known whether this was Reho- 
both on the Euphrates, or a place of that name on a river of 
Edom. Rehoboth was also a name given to a well which was 
dug by Isaac, near Gerar. Gen. xxvi. 22. 

Rekem, a city of Benjamin. Josh, xviii. 27. 

Remeth, a city of Issachar ; (Josh. xix. 21.) the same as 
Ramoth. 1 Chron. vl 73. 

Remmon, (Josh. xix. 7.) See Rimmon. 

Rephaim, the ancient giants of Canaan. See Part I. p. 34. 

Rephidim, an encampment of the Israelites in the wilder- 
ness. See Part I. p. 44. 

Resen, an ancient city of Assyria, between Nineveh and 
Calah. (Gen. x. 12.) In the chronicle of Dionysius, pa- 
triarch of the Jacobins, A. D. 772, among the Ninevite cities 
which were depopulated by the Arabs, we find Ressin, which 
is mentioned with other cities of Assyria, and is no doubt the 
Resen of Scripture. 

Reuben, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part L 
p. 67. 

W 2 



258 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



RHG 



I 



Rezeph, a city mentioned in 2 Kings xix. 12. Ptolemy 
mentions a place called Rezipha, in Mesopotamia, east of the 
Euphrates, which is probably the same. 

Rhegium, or Regium, a maritime city of Italy, visited by 
St. Paul on his voyage to Rome. (Acts xxviii. 13c) This 
place is now called Reggio, and is in the kingdom of Naples, 
on the Strait of Messina. 

Rhodes, a famous island, south of Caria, in Asia Minor, 
visited by St. Paul, (Acts xxi. 1.) and accounted in dignity 
next to Cyprus and Lesbos, among the Asiatic isles, being 40 
miles long and 15 broad. The Septuagint and Samaritan 
bibles, instead of Dodanim, (Gen. x. 4.) read Rhodanim. St. 
Jerom, Eusebius, Isidore, and others, follow them, and think 
the isle of Rhodes was originally peopled by the Rhodanim, 
or posterity of Javan. Most ancient copies of the Scriptures, 
however, agree with our translation, and read Dodanim. From 
whatever source this island may have been peopled, it is cer- 
tain that its ancient inhabitants were a powerful people, ex- 
pert in navigation, and a formidable maritime power. They 
were called by the Romans, the maritime people ; they com- 
manded the neighbouring seas, and causes relating to naval 
affairs were decided according to the laws of the Rhodians. 

This island was famed for a prodigious statue of brass, call- 
ed the Colossus, which was erected standing astride over the 
mouth of the harbour, so that the ships sailed between its 
legs. It was seventy cubits high, and each of its fingers was 
said to be as large as a common-sized mam On account of 
its vast bulk, it was reckoned one of the seven wonders of the 
world. It was thrown down by an earthquake, and many 
years after, the brass of which it was made, being carried by 
the Saracens to Egypt, was enough to load 900 camels. 

The people of Rhodes maintained a long contest with the 
Greeks, but having applied to the Romans for aid, the latter 
seized the island for themselves, and made it a Roman colony. 
In A. D. 1124, it was taken from the Saracens by the Vene- 
tians, and was afterwards taken by the Turks, who in their 
turn were driven off by the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. 
In 1522 it was attacked by Solyman, with 300 ships, and 
200,000 men, and surrendered after losing 90,000 of its peo- 
ple ; the loss of the Turks was much greater. 

The soil of Rhodes is fertile, producing delicious wines and 
rich fruits, and its climate pleasant and healthy. Its popula- 
tion is about 36,000, of which one-third are Greeks, with a 
few Jews. 



ROM DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 259 

Riblah, a city of Syria, in the country of Hamath, north 
of Canaan. Numb, xxxiv. 11. 2 Kings xxiii. 33. 

Rimmon, a city of Judah, given to Simeon. (Josh. xv. 32L 
xix. 7.) Also the name of a rock to which the Benjamites 
retreated. Judges xx. 45.) Also a valley. Zech. xiv. 10. 

Rimmon-methoar, a city of Zebulon, (Josh. xix. 13.) call- 
ed Rimmon. 1 Chron. vi. 77. 

Rimmon-parez, an encampment of the Israelites in the 
desert. Numb, xxxiii. 19. 

Rissah, an encampment in the wilderness, between Libnah 
and Kehelathah. Numb, xxxiii. 21. 

Rithmah, a station of Israel in the desert, near Hazeroth. 
Numb, xxxiii. 18. 

Rogel, a fountain near Jerusalem. The name imports 
treading, and it is supposed to have been the fullers' fountain, 
where they washed cloths by treading them with their feet 
Josh. xv. 7. 2 Sam. xvii. 17. 

Rogelim, the plural of Rogel, a city of Gilead, apparently 
in the neighbourhood of Mahanaim. 2 Sam. xvii. 27. 

Rome, the capital of Italy, and the metropolis of the Roman 
empire ; founded by Romulus, 3252 years after the creation 
of the world, and 752 before the birth of Christ, during the 
reign of Jotham, king of Judah. The history of the city of 
Rome, and of the Romans as a people, is so extensive and so 
generally known, that we have no occasion to introduce it 
into this work ; we shall merely treat of those parts of it 
which seem to be immediately connected with Scripture his- 
tory. 

Rome is not mentioned in the Old Testament; though 
most interpreters believe the Roman empire is referred to in 
Dan. ii. 40. under the name of the kingdom of iron, which 
bruises and breaks in pieces all other kingdoms. Also by the 
ships of Chittim, (Dan. xi. 29, 30.) is generally understood the 
Roman fleet by which Antiochus was obliged to desist from 
his designs against Egypt. In the apocryphal books of the 
Maccabees, and in the New Testament, Rome and its people 
are frequently mentioned. In 1 Mace. viii. 1, 2, &c. it is-said 
that Judas, having heard of the fame of the Romans, sent two 
ambassadors to Rome, who were well received, and made an 
alliance with the Romans. This was in the year 161 before 
Christ, and 18 years after, this alliance was renewed by Jona- 
than, the brother of Judas Maccabeus, (1 Mace. xii. 1, 2, &c.) 
and again by Simon Maccabeus, (xiv, 16.) About thrqe years 



260 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



SAL 



!-'* 



oefore this, Quintus Memmius and Titus Manilius, the Ro- 
man legates, (2 Mace. xi. 34, &c.) being sent into Syria to 
settle some affairs with the king, Antiochus Eupator, interest- 
ed themselves in promoting the tranquillity of the Jews, and 
wrote to them, confirming certain favours, and requesting to 
Know what further they desired. 

Of the wars which afterwards followed between the Jews 
and the Romans, of the capture of Jerusalem and the destruc- 
tion of the temple, as well as the subsequent state of the 
country under the Roman government, we have already 
treated in the article Judea. 

The establishment of the Christian church in Rome is 
ascribed to the apostles Peter and Paul. It is thought that 
Peter was led thither in the reign of Claudius ; and Paul was 
carried there as a prisoner, where he afterwards dwelt and 
preached, " two whole years, no man forbidding him." (Acts 
xxviii. 30, 31.) Here he afterwards suffered martyrdom, 
together with St. Peter, as most believe, under the sanguinary 
reign of Nero. After the death of these eminent apostles, the 
Christian church continued to flourish at Rome, though fre- 
quently much persecuted by some of the cruel and wicked 
emperors who reigned in the decline of the Roman empire. 
Others, however, among whom was Adrian, treated them 
more mildly. Our limits forbid us to trace the progress of 
the gospel in the Roman empire, though it would be interest- 
ing to recite the accounts of the zeal of its advocates, and the 
fortitude of its martyrs; and to mark the final triumph of 
Christianity over the absurd rites of heathen idolatry. 

Rosh, the name of a people. The Septuagint and other 
translations of the Scriptures, in Ezek. xxxviii. 2, 3. xxxix. 1. 
call Magog the chief prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 
The people of Rosh are placed by Bochart, in the country on 
the Araxes between the Caspian and Black seas ; and from 
them the present Russians have probably derived their origin 
and name. 



S. 

Sabeans, a people of x\rabia. (Isa. xlv. 14.) See Sheba. 

Sabtah, an& Sabtecha, sons of Cush. (Gen. x. 7.) See 
Part I. pp. 24, 25. 

Salamis, a considerable city in the island of Cyprus, visited 
by St. Paul and Barnabas. (Acts xiii. 5.) This city gave 
name to the whole eastern tract of the island, opposite to the 



SAM DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 261 

coast of Syria. It was afterwards the see of the primate of 
the island. The city was destroyed by the Jews in the reign 
of Trajan; but being rebuilt, it was afterwards taken and 
razed by the Saracens, in the time of Herodius. It never 
recovered, and the see of the metropolitan bishop was removed 
to Nicosia. Out of the rums of Saiamis is said to have arisen 
Famagusta, the chief place of the island when it was taken 
from the Venetians by the Turks. 

There was also an island called Saiamis, on the south of 
Attica, in Greece. 

Salchah, a city of Bashan. Deut. iii. 10. 

Salem, the city of Melchizedek, (Gen. xiv. 18.) generally 
understood to be Jerusalem. 

Salim, a place in the region of Samaria, near which John 
baptized. John iii. 23. 

Salmons, a cape in the island of Crete, passed by St. Paul. 
(Acts xxv ii. 7.) Some think a city of this name was also 
situated there. The cape still retains its ancient name, but 
the city, if there was one, is gone. 

Salt Sea, See Dead Sea. 

Salt, valley of: a valley in the south of Judah, on the 
borders of Edom, near the Dead Sea. This valley is noted 
in Scripture for the frequent slaughters made there of the 
Edomites, by the Israelites. (2 Sam. viii. 13. 2 Kings xiv. 7. 
1 Chron. xviii. 12. 2 Chron. xxv. 11.) In the first of these 
texts they are said to be Syrians that were smitten, but in 
1 Chron. xviii. 12. they are Edomites, which is doubtless the 
true reading, not only on account of the situation of the valley 
of Salt near the frontier of the Edomites, but very distant 
from the Syrians, but also because the Greek, Syriac, and 
Arabic interpreters all read Edom, and not Aram, or Syria. 
The error in the Hebrew text evidently arose from the simili- 
tude of the Hebrew words OIK Edom, and CDix Aram, the 
Hebrew i D and ^ R being very much alike, and easily mis- 
taken one for the other. 

Samaria, a country of the Holy Land lying between Judea 
on the south, and Galilee on the north, and extending from 
the Mediterranean on the west, to the Jordan on the east. It 
comprised most of the country once belonging to the tribes of 
Ephraim, Alanasseh, and Issachar. That Samaria in the New 
Testament included the country between Judea proper, and 
Galilee, is evident from John iv. 3, 4. This province receiv- 
ed its name from the city of Samaria, formerly the capital of 






262 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. HAD 

the kings of Israel, built by Omri, and named Samaria, after 
Shemer, the person of whom he bought the hill on which it 
stood. (1 Kings xvi. 24) This city was founded about A. M. 
3085. It was built upon a hill about eight miles north of 
Shechem, and, according to Josephus, was a day's journey 
from Jerusalem. Being the capital of the kings of Israel, it 
was much ornamented and strengthened by them. 

Samaria was first besieged by Benhadad, king of Syria, 
and was reduced to great extremity, but it was then miracu- 
lously delivered, according to the prediction of the prophet 
Elisha. It was afterwards taken by Salmaneser, king of 
Assyria, after a siege of three years. This prince carried 
away the Israelites, or the ten tribes, captive, and in their 
stead sent a colony of divers nations who patched up a religion 
out of the Jewish and their own heathenish rites. In the 
time of the Maccabees, this city was taken by one of that 
family, and laid in ruins. Herod the Great, being pleased 
with its situation, rebuilt it in a stately manner, adorning it 
with fine marble pillars and other sculpture, which are yet 
found in abundance among the rubbish which marks the 
place. He also inclosed it with a strong wall, and erected a 
temple. In honour of Augustus Caesar, he named it Sebaste, 
a Greek name answering to the Latin Augustus. Herod 
Agrippa obtained this city of the emperor Caligula ; and by 
taking part with the Romans under Vespasian, against the 
Jews, it avoided the calamities which fell upon the country 
in consequence of the war. But the inhabitants, afterwards 
adopting other politics, were exterminated from the country 
with the Jews, by Adrian, and the city has since gone to 
decay, having now but a few cottages, and convents inhabited 
by Greek monks. Some travellers who have traced its ruins, 
have conjectured it to have once been larger than Jerusalem. 

Samaritans, a name commonly given in Scripture to the 
people sent by the king of Assyria to inhabit the country 
which was left desolate by the removal of the ten tribes into 
captivity. (2 Kings xvii. 24.) These strangers do not seem 
at first to have had any temple, or any fixed place or form of 
worship common to the whole ; but each nation worshipped 
the deity they had been accustomed to in their own country. 
(2 Kings xvii. 29, &c.) But they soon understood, from the 
books of Moses which they possessed, and from the example 
of the Jews, their neighbours, that God was to be worshipped 
only in that place which he had chosen ; and since the Jews 



SAM DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 263 

would not allow them to go to the temple at Jerusalem, they 
built a temple of their own upon Mount Gerizim, near the 
city of Shechem, which was then their capital. This temple 
was built by Sanballat, the governor of the Samaritans, whose 
daughter had married Manasses, the brother of Jaddus, the 
high priest of the Jews, and fearing that he would put her 
away, to avoid excommunication for having married a strange 
wife, Sanballat promised Manasses that if he would retain her, 
he would build a temple answerable to that at Jerusalem, and 
would make him the high priest of it ; which was accordingly 
done. This proved the main occasion of the contention be- 
tween the Samaritans and Jews, which had proceeded so far, 
that in the time of our Saviour they had no dealings with one 
another. (John iv. 9.) For though the temple erected by 
Sanballat had long before been destroyed by Hyrcanus the 
Maccabean, yet still there remained a place of worship. (John 
iv. 20.) This controversy respecting the right of the two 
temples as to the place appointed by God for sacrifice, was 
plainly determined by our Saviour against the Samaritans. For 
he was passing from Galilee through Samaria, and was deter- 
mined to go to Jerusalem to celebrate there the feast of the 
tabernacles ; for which cause the Samaritans refused to enter- 
tain him. Luke ix. 53. 

The Samaritans having received the Pentateuch, or the 
five books of Moses, from the priest that was sent them by the 
king of Assyria, (2 Kings xvii. 27.) have preserved it to this 
day in the same language and character in which it was then 
written ; that is, in the old Hebrew or Phenician character, 
which is now called the Samaritan, to distinguish it from the 
modern Hebrew, in which the books of the Jews are now 
written. After the captivity, the Jews changed their old char- 
acters, and used the Chaldee, to which they had been accus- 
tomed at Babylon, and which they still continue to use. It is 
wrong, says Calmet, to give this the name of the Hebrew 
character, for that can be said properly only of the Samaritan 
text. 

The Samaritans at present are very few in number, though 
there are still some residing at Shechem, now called Naplous. 
They yet have priests, who they say are of the family of 
Aaron ; and they still offer sacrifices, and observe the Sabbath 
and the law of Moses with much strictness. Some are also 
found at Gaza, Damascus, and Cairo. 

Samos, an island of the Archipelago, . five miles from the 



264 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



SAR 



continent, and 40 miles south-east of Chios. It is about 80 
miles in circumference, and is said to be naturally produc- 
tive, though the agriculture is now much neglected. Its 
wine has long been celebrated for its excellence, and the island 
also produces honey and wax of superior quality. The in- 
habitants are about 12,000, chiefly Greeks ; St. Paul visited 
Samos, on his voyage to Jerusalem. Acts xx. 15. 

Samothracia, a small island on the south-western coast 
of Thrace, at the head of the Egean Sea ; where St. Paul 
landed as he went from Troas to Macedonia. (Acts xvi. 11.) 
This island is now called Samandrachi ; it is about 20 miles 
in circumference, and has commodious harbours. 

Sans ann ah, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 31. 

Saphir, a city (Micah i. 11.) thought by some to be Sepho- 
ris in Galilee ; and by others Shamir, in the tribe of Judah, 
which is called Saphir in the Greek of Josh. xv. 48. 

Sardis, a city of Lydia in Asia Minor, situated on the banks 
of the Pactolus, and the royal city of the Lydian kings until 
Croesus, the last of them, was conquered by Cyrus, the first 
Persian emperor. It was taken from Xerxes by the Greeks, 
which so affected him that he commanded one of his attend- 
ants to say aloud every day, while he was at dinner, " The 
Grecians have taken Sardis," thus continuing to remind him 
of it until it should be recovered. It was destroyed by an 
earthquake in the reign of Tiberius, who ordered it to be re- 
built ; and it long remained to be the metropolis of the pro- 
vince of Lydia. Strabo tells us it was a great and ancient 
city ; yet of later date than the state of the Trojans. It was 
situated at the foot of Mount Tmolus, which had on its top a 
high tower of white stone, built after the Persian manner. 

Out of Mount Tmolus flowed the river Pactolus, celebrated 
among the ancients for the gold found among its sands. This 
gold was brought down by the current, and from it Croesus 
and his ancestors amassed their riches ; but now these springs 
of gold have failed. The rivers Pactolus and Hylas fall into 
the Hermus, and empty themselves into the Phocian Sea, now 
called Fogia, or Fochia. The prospect from the top of Mount 
Tmolus is exceedingly beautiful. 

Sardis, now called Sart, is a poor village of shepherds ; yet 
its ancient pillars and ruins still lift up their heads as if un- 
willing to lose the memory of their ancient glory. To the 
south of the town are extensive ruins, which show what Sar- 
dis was, before earthquakes produced its present desolation. 



SEL 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



265 



Among these are the ruins of a great church, possibly that 
addressed in Rev. iii. 1, 2, &c. the worshippers in which were 
insincere and wicked. 




An ancient medal of Sardis, representing the head of the goddess 
Proserpine, who was worshipped in that city. The reverse shows the 
history of her being carried off by Pluto, whose horses are urged for- 
ward and directed by a cupid : under their feet lies an urn overthrown , 
a serpent, the good genius, assisting in the affair. The inscription around 
the head, implies great dignity in this city : asias lydias ellados a 
metropolis sardis. i. e. Sardis, the first metropolis of Asia, Lydia, 
and Greece. This must, however, be taken with some allowance ; for 
ate Sardis was a city of the Lesser Asia, she could not, properly speak- 
ing, be. the metropolis of Greece. The inscription on the reverse, epi 
sou l ermophilou asiarch sardianon b neokoron, commemorates 
Sulpicius Herraophilus, the Asiarch, under whom Sardis enjoyed a 
second Neocorate, or was a second time conservator of the sacred im 
plements, ceremonies, <fcc. 

Sarepta, See Zarephath. 

Sarid, a city of Zebulon. Josh. xix. 10. 

Sea, the terms Great Sea, Western Sea, Sea of the Philis- 
tines, &c. in Scripture, generally denote the Mediterranean, 
which lay west of the land of Canaan. Of the other seas 
mentioned in the sacred history, we have treated under their 
proper names. 

Seba, See Sheba. 

Secacah, a city in the south of Judah. Josh. xv. 61. 

Seir, mount ; See Part I. p. 35. Also a mountain in the 
border of Judah, near Kirjath-jearim. Josh. xv. 10. 

Seirah, a place probably near Bethel. Judg. iii. 26. 

Selah, (2 Kings xiv. 7.) See Joktheel. 

Seleucia, a city of Syria, westward from Antioch, and near 
X 



266 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. SHE 

the mouth of the river Orontes, built by Seleucus Nicanor. 
St. Paul and Barnabas embarked here, on their voyage to Cy- 
prus. (Acts xiii. 4.) It is also mentioned in 1 Mace. xi. 8. 

Semechon, lake ; See waters of Merom, Part I. p. 58. 

Sephar, a mountain, (Gen. x. 30.) generally supposed to be 
situated in Mesopotamia, though some conjecture it to have 
been in Arabia. 

Sepharvaim, a people brought by the king of Assyria to in- 
habit the country of the Israelites after they had been carried 
into captivity. (2 Kings xvii. 24.) Their original dwelling is 
supposed to have been in the neighbourhood of Mount Sephar, 
in Mesopotamia. The city of Sepharvaim is mentioned in 
Scripture, (2 Kings xix. 13. Isa. xxxvii. 13.) and was proba- 
bly the capital of these people. 

Shaalabein, a city of Dan, (Josh. xix. 42.) elsewhere call- 
ed Shaalbim, and Shaalim. 

Shaarim, a city of Simeon, ( 1 Chron. iv. 31.) noticed 
among the cities of Judah, (Josh. xv. 36.) and there called 
Sharaim. 

Shahazimah, a city of Issachar. Josh. xix. 22. 

Shalem, a city of Shechem, (Gen. xxxiii. 18.) probably the 
original name of Sichem or Shechem. 

Shalisha, See Baal-shalisha. 

Shamir, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 48.) and another in 
Ephraim. Judges x. 1. 

Shapher, mount, one of the encampments of the Israelites, 
near Haradah. Numb, xxxiii. 23. 

Sharon : there seem to be three places or districts of this 
name mentioned in Scripture. One in the west of Ephraim, 
between Csesarea and Joppa ; another in the east of Zebulon, 
between Mount Tabor and the sea of Tiberias ; and another 
in the tribe of Gad, east of Jordan. The name Sharon sig- 
nifies a plain, and seems to have been a place noted for fruit- 
fulness and excellent pastures. 1 Chron. xxvii. 29. Isa. lxv. 
10. Song ii. 1. Acts ix. 35. 

Sharuhen, a city of Simeon. Josh. xix. 6. 

Shaven, a valley near Jerusalem, called also the king's 
dale. (Gen. xiv. 17.) Shaveh-kiriathaim, (Gen. xiv. 5.) was 
probably a valley near Kiriathaim in the tribe of Reuben. 

Sheba, and Seba : there appear to be four people of this 
name mentioned in Scripture : — 

1. Seba, a son of Cush, and grandson of Ham. Gen. x. 7. 

2. Sheba, son of Raamah, and grandson of Cush. Gen. x. 7. 



SHE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 267 

2. Sheba, a son of Joktan, of the family of Shem. Gen. x. 28. 

4. Sheba, a son of Jokshan, who was the son of Abraham 
by Keturah. Gen. xxv. 2. 

It appears most probable that Seba, the son of Cush, settled 
in Arabia Felix, and was the father of the Sabeans, noted for 
their riches and spices. Isa. lx. 6. Jer. vi. 20. 

Sheba, the son of Raamah, is conjectured to have settled 
in the south-east of x\rabia ; and of this family may have been 
the merchants of Sheba mentioned by Ezekiel. 

Sheba, the son of Joktan, has also been placed in Arabia by 
some writers ; but more probably dw T elt in the north of Meso- 
potamia, 

Sheba, the son of Jokshan, dwelt in Arabia Deserta, and 
was probably the ancestor of the Sabeans w T ho took aw^ay the 
flocks of Job. 

All these families in Arabia were confounded by the Greeks 
under the general name of Sabeans ; and Pliny says that the 
Sabean nations spread themselves to both seas ; i. e. from the 
Red Sea, or Gulf of Arabia, to the Gulf of Persia. 

It has been contended by some authors, that Seba the son 
of Cush settled in Ethiopia, south of Egypt ; and that thence 
came that queen of Sheba who visited king Solomon. (1 Kings 
x.) This was the opinion of Josephus ; and Mr. Bruce relates 
that the x\byssinians boldly maintain that this queen was of 
their country, and that their kings are descended from Meni- 
lek, who they say was the son of Solomon by the queen of 
Sheba. They have a catalogue of the kings descended from 
her, with the order of their succession. Dr. Wells, however, 
agrees with the learned Bochart, and thinks the queen of 
Sheba was so named, not from any country in Afriean Ethio- 
pia, but from the south of Arabia Felix. Sheba was usually 
called the south country : and this queen is said to have come 
from the utmost parts of the earth, i. e. from the utmost parts 
of Arabia, southward. This part of Arabia also abounded 
with gold and spices, whieh were brought to Solomon by the 
queen : and it is related that women reigned over these Sa- 
bean nations, as well as over the Ethiopians. 

Sheba, a city of Simeon. Josh. xix. 2. 

Sheban, a city of Reuben. Numb, xxxii. 3. 

Shebarim, a place near Ai and Bethel. Josh, viL 5. 

Shechem, or Sichem. See Part L p. 30. 

Shema, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 26. 

SsEMER, the name of the hill upon which was afterward* 
built the city of Samaria. 1 Kings xvi. 24 



268 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



SHU 



Shen, a place near Mizpeh in Judah, (1 Sam. vii. 12.) pro- 
bably the same called Seneh, xiv. 4. 

Shepham, a city of Syria, in the north-eastern border of 
Canaan ; possibly the same called afterwards Apamea. 

Sheshach, a name by which Jeremiah is understood to 
mean Babylon. Jer. xxv. 26. 

Shibmah, or Sibmah, a city of Reuben, situated, according 
to Jerom, near Heshbon. Numb, xxxii. 38. Josh. xiii. 19. 

Shicron, a city in the border of Judah. Josh. xv. 11. 

Shihon, a city of Issachar. Josh. xix. 19. 

Shilhim, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 32. 

Shiloh. See Part I. p. 61. This place is frequently -men- 
tioned in Scripture. The name in Hebrew may signify dis- 
solving, or untying the shoe, or peace, or abounding ; in Sy- 
riac, illusive, or deceptive. 

Shimron, a city of Zebulon. Josh. xix. 15. 

Shinar. See Part I. p. 13. 

Shittim, a place east of Jordan, in the Land of Moab, 
where the Israelites were encamped for some time. Numb. 
xxv. 1. Josh. ii. 1. Part I. p. 50. 

Shocoh, a place near Azekah. 1 Sam. xvii. 1. 

Shophan, a city of Gad. Numb, xxxii. 35. 

Shual, a district invaded by the Philistines in the time of 
Saul ; probably situated in the tribe of Ephraim. (1 Sam. xiii. 
17.) The name Shual signifies a fox, and the Land of Shual, 
here mentioned, may have been so named from abounding 
with those animals. Shual may also mean a path, or a fight, 
or the fist, and from this latter meaning some have conjectur- 
ed that the story of Samson's catching three hundred foxes, 
in order to burn the standing corn of the Philistines, (Judges 
xv. 4.) would have been better translated by saying that he 
took three hundred handfuls or sheaves, (manipulus, Latin, 
from manus, the hand,) and turned them end to end, and put a 
fire-brand in the midst, between the two ends, and cast them 
into the standing corn of the Philistines. A much more likely 
way of setting a field of grain on fire, than to catch three 
hundred foxes, and tie them two and two, with fire-brands 
between their tails ; particularly if the fox of Scripture, as is 
allowed by the most learned commentators, was the animal 
known to us by the name of jackal. 

Shunem, a city of Issachar, south of Mount Tabor. (Josh, 
xix. 18.) At this place dwelt the woman who so hospitably 
entertained the prophet Elisha, and whose child he restored to 
life. 2 Kings iv. 



SID DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 2G& 

Shur, a city of Arabia Petrea, which is supposed to have 
given name to the wilderness of Shur in its vicinity. (Gen. 
xvi. 7. xx. 1.) Part I. p. 44. 

Shushan, the capital of Susiana in Persia, situated upon 
the river Ulai. (Dan. viii. 2.) It was the winter residence of 
the Persian kings, from the time of Cyrus ; but in the summer 
they removed to Ecbatana, on account of the heat. This city 
is also mentioned in the beginning- of the books of Esther and 
Nehemiah, and is generally called the palace. It was an- 
ciently a rich and splendid city, and when taken by Alexan- 
der, he found here 50,000 talents of uncoined gold, besides 
wedges of silver, and jewels of inestimable value. The old 
city is now a heap of ruins ; but there is said to be one near 
it now called Suster, which is a flourishing place, 122 miles 
south-west from Ispahan. 

Sibmah, the same as Shibmafa. 

Sibraim, a place between Damascus and Hamath. Ezek. 
xlvii. 16. 
' Sichar, and Sichem, names of Shechem. 
Sidmm, vale of: See Part I. p. 31. 

Sidon, a city of Asher, in the north-west of Canaan, or 
Phenicia, on the coast of the Mediterranean, about 25 miles 
north of Tyre, It was one of the most ancient cities in. the 
world, having been founded by Sidon, the son of Canaan, and 
great-grandson of Noah. Having long enjoyed an extensive 
commerce, it became one of the most opulent cities in the 
world, and in the time of Joshua, (xi. 8.) was called " Sidon 
the great," by way of eminence. The Sidonians were famous 
for ship-building, and hewing timber, (1 Kings v. 6.) and from 
this place Solomon had his principal workmen to build the 
temple. They were also distinguished in other arts, and are 
said to have been the first makers of transparent glass. Not- 
withstanding the strength, riches, and prosperity of Sidon, its 
ruin was foretold by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others. 
This was accomplished in the time of Ochus, king of Persia ; 
for the Sidonians having rebelled, he came against them with 
an army, and the city was betrayed into his hands, upon 
which the inhabitants in despair set fire to their own nouses, 
and perished in the flames, with their wives and children, to 
the number of 40,000. In the time of the crusades,- it was 
held by the Christians, but was afterwards taken from them 
by the Turks. 

Sidon is now a mean place, though it yet has a considerable 
X2 



270 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



SID 



trade, being the chief port of Damascus. It is now called 
Seyde, or Saide, and is 45 miles west from Damascus. There 
are three Christian churches here. 




No. 1. An ancient medal of Sidon, representing Astarte holding a 
cross, and standing on a ship, having the modius, or sacred measure, on 
her head. Inscription, sidonos theas, the Sidonian goddess; also some 
Phenician letters, which prove its great antiquity. 

No. 2. The Sidonian goddess seated on a bull, probably having re- 
ference to the story of Europa : on the reverse the temple of Venus, as 
appears by the crescent surmounting a column. Inscription Sidonio, 
date zkp, 127, from the era of the Seleucidae. 



No. 3. The goddess in her car ; on her 
head the modius, with flowers in festoons 
hanging from it on each side. The in- 
scription the same as No. 1. Date 227 




No. 4. 



No. 5. 




SIN 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



271 



No. 4. Astarte resting her right hand on a trophy ; on her left stands 
Victory on a pillar ; at her feet is Silenus, and beside her a shell. This 
shell is supposed to be the purple murex, and to allude to the Tyrian 
dye, which was said to be extracted from it. 

No. 5. The goddess in her temple, holding the long cross in her hand 
Silenus with his wine-bottle at her feet, a Victory on a pillar beside her 
Before the temple is an altar, and beside it the shell. This figure is in 
most respects similar to No. 4, and shows that there was a temple to 
this goddess in Sidon, and that she was worshipped in that city. 

Sihon, kingdom of: See Part I. p. 53. 

Sihor, or Shihor, (Josh. xiii. 3. 1 Chron. xiii. 5.) a river 
supposed by some to be the Nile ; but was more probably a 
river falling into the Mediterranean near the southern bound- 
ary of the Land of Canaan, on the frontier of Egypt, and 
called in several passages of Scripture, the river of Egypt 
See Part I. p. 32. Shihor-libnath was a river in the tribe of 
Asher. Josh. xix. 26. 

Siloam, a pool or fountain on the south-west of Jerusalem, 
(Nehem. iii. 15. John ix. 7.) probably the same elsewhere 
called Gihon. The tower of Siloam (Luke xiii. 4) is thought 
to have stood near this pool, towards the west. A church was 
formerly built over the fountain, but it has now gone to ruin. 

Simeon, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part I. p. 64. 

Sin, a desert between Elim and Sinai. (Exod. xvi. 1. Numb, 
xxxiii. 11.) See Part L p. 44. Also a city of Egypt, (Ezek. 
xxx. 15.) afterwards called Pelusium, which see. 

Sinai, a mountain in Arabia, between the two gulfs, at the 
bead of the Red Sea. See Part I. p. 45. 




View of Mount Sinai. 



272 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



SIN 



It seems probable, from Scripture, that Sinai and Horeb 
were only different heads or peaks of fhe same mountain ; and 
besides these there is another, now called the Mount of St. Ca- 
tharine. The monastery of St. Catharine stands at the foot of 
Mount Sinai, and is strongly built of stone. On the east side 
is a window by which pilgrims and visitors are drawn up into 
the monastery in a basket which is let down by a rope and 
pulley. By the same means the monks also let down victuals 
and alms to the Arabs, to be better secured from outrage ; but 
they never suffer them to enter the monastery, the door of 
which is only opened to admit their bishop. The Greek 
Christians have been in possession of this monastery for a 
thousand years ; it having been given to them by the emperor 
Justinian. From this building there were formerly steps up 
the side of the mountain to its very top, the number of which 
was computed at 14,000. At present some of them are bro- 
ken; but those which remain are well made, and easy to 
ascend and descend. 

Sinim, a place mentioned in Isaiah xlix. 12. supposed by 
learned commentators to mean China. 




Idol Worship in China. 



The Chinese are remarkable for the pertinacity with which 
they adhere to their ancient customs, and are no doubt 
essentially the same people which their ancestors were 2000 
years ago. In common with other pagans they are gross 
idolaters, and have numerous temples dedicated to their still 
more numerous deities. 



SMY DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 273 

Among the numerous promises in the Scriptures, there is 
one which bears directly upon China, (Isaiah xlix. 12.) " Be- 
hold, these shall come from far, and lo ! these from the north 
and west, and these from the land of the Sinim." Great 
philologists are agreed that Sinim was the name under which 
eastern Asia was known to the inhabitants of western Asia. 
The Arabs, Syrians, Malays, and Siamese, to this day, call it 
Tsin Chin, or Shin ; and it may well be doubted whether the 
Hebrews, who knew the existence of Hindoostan (Esther i. 
1.) under the name of Hodu, and of Scythia under the name 
of Magog, could be entirely ignorant of the largest and oldest 
of empires. Sinim is the Hebrew plural of Sin. 

Sinites, descendants of Canaan. Gen. x. 17. See Part L 
p. 28. 

Sion, or Zion, a mountain in Jerusalem, called also the 
Mount of the Lord, and the holy mountain. 

Siphmoth, a place in Judah. 1 Sam. xxx. 28. 

Sirion, a name given by the Sidonians to Mount Hermon, 
which the Amorites called Shenir. Deut. iii. 9. 

Smyrna, a famous sea-port town of Ionia in Asia Minor, 
built by the JGolians, and afterwards strengthened by a colony 
from Ephesus. It is said to have received its name from a 
queen of the Amazons, called Smyrna, who took possession of 
it. It was afterwards destroyed by the Lydians, and remain- 
ed almost deserted for 400 years, until Antigonus, one of 
Alexander's generals, and after him Lysimachus, restored it 
to its ancient splendour. About 180 years after Christ, it 
was nearly ruined by an earthquake, but was repaired by 
Marcus Aurelius. Having again fallen into decay, about 
A. D. 1675, it was restored by the Turks, who erected many 
stately buildings, chiefly from the ruins of the ancient city. 
Over the gate of a castle on the hill, the Roman eagle con- 
tinues still engraved, and not far distant is the tomb of Poly- 
carp, an early Christian martyr, who suffered death here, and 
who is supposed to be the angel, or pastor of the church in 
Smyrna, addressed in Rev. ii. 8. 

Smyrna is at present a considerable city, and noted for its 
extensive commerce. Its port is one of the finest of the Le- 
vant, and is frequented by ships from nearly all parts of the 
world. It is visited by caravans from Persia, and by mer- 
chants from many eastern countries, who bring here their 
merchandise for traffic. A great number of Christians of all 
nations, sects, and languages reside here in security, and have 
several churches. 






274 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



sue 




A medal of Smyrna, representing Ceres, the goddess of plenty, with 
the inscription, smyrnaion proton asi as, Smyrna, the first of Asia ; 
i. e. the first of the cities in proconsular Asia. The reverse represents 
Jupiter sitting, and holding in his hand Victory. The inscription com- 
memorates ** Philotas, son of Hippicus." 

Socoh, or Shocoh, the name of two towns in Judah. Josh, 
xv. 35. 48. 1 Sam. xvii. 1. 1 Kings iv. 10. 1 Chron. iv. 18. 
2 Chron. xi. 7. 

Sodom, one of the five cities of the plain, or vale of Siddim, 
which were destroyed for their wickedness by fire from hea- 
ven. It seems to have been the most considerable of those 
cities, and probably stood near the present southern extremity 
of the Dead Sea. See Dead Sea. 

Sorek, a brook or valley in the tribe of Dan, near Eshtaol. 
Judges xvi. 4. 

Spain. It is asserted by ancient writers that St. Paul 
preached the gospel in Spain ; and he tells us himself, (Rom. 
xv. 24. 28.) that he had resolved on going thither. Theo- 
doret, and others, tell us that he preached, not only in Spain, 
but in other nations, and brought the gospel into the isles of 
the sea, by which he probably means Britain. The gospel 
was certainly planted in Spain at a very early period, and 
many ancient Spanish writers affirm that the apostle James, 
the son of Zebedee and the brother of John, was the principal 
missionary of the Spaniards. Many Latin and Greek writers 
certify that Paul executed his design, and visited Spain after 
recovering his liberty at Rome. 

Succoth, a place east of Jordan, near the brook Jabbok, 
where Jacob dwelt some time, (Gen. xxxiii. 17.) and where 
afterwards was a city belonging to the tribe of Gad. (Josh, 
xiii. 27. Judges viii. 5. 1 Kings vii. 46.) Also a station of the 
Israelites when preparing to leave Egypt. See Part I. p. 42. 



SYR DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 275 

Sukkim, a people probably inhabiting the parts of Africa 
adjoining Egypt on the south. 2 Chron. xii. 3. 

Sychar, (John iv. 5.) the same as Shechem. 

Syene, a city at the southern extremity of Egypt; (Ezek. 
xxix. 10.) where it is placed in opposition to Cush, or Arabian 
Ethiopia, to signify the whole extent of Egypt from south to 
north. 

Syracuse, a famous city of Sicily, situated on the east side 
of the island, founded by a Corinthian colony about 732 B. C. 
It was afterwards under various governments, but became 
very powerful ; and in the time of Dionysius, king of Syracuse, 
commonly called the tyrant, an army of 100,000 foot, 10,000 
horse, and 400 ships were kept in constant pay. It fell into 
the hands of the Romans, under Marcellus, after a siege of 
three years, B. C. 212. This opulent city had two capacious 
harbours, and was well built, with stately and magnificent 
houses. Strabo says it was 22 miles in circumference ; and 
Livy and Plutarch acquaint us that the spoil of it, when taken 
by Marcellus, was almost equal to that of Carthage. Here 
Archimedes, the celebrated mathematician, was killed by a 
common soldier, while he was intent upon his studies; by 
which Marcellus was much grieved. After this, Syracuse in 
some measure recovered its former prosperity; but was at 
length taken by the Saracens, A. D. 884, and razed to the 
ground. Some ruins of the ancient city yet remain ; near 
which stands the modern town, a place of little consequence. 

St. Paul, in his voyage to Rome, landed at Syracuse, and 
remained there three days. Acts xxviii. 12. 

Syria, a country called in the early Scripture writings 
Aram, from Aram, the son of Shem, by whose descendants it 
was peopled. The name Syria is often applied in a vague 
and indeterminate sense, and it is well to state to what differ- 
ent countries it has been applied. 

Syria, in its largest sense, includes all the country lying 
from Mount Taurus on the north, to the boundaries of Egypt 
and Arabia on the south ; having the Mediterranean on the 
west, and the Euphrates, east. In some of the older authors, 
indeed, it seems to have also included Mesopotamia, called 
Aram naharaim, or Syria of the rivers. Hosea xii. 12. 

Syria, thus taken in its largest extent, may be considered 
as divided into three parts: 1. Upper Syria, or Syria proper, 
the original country of Aram, lying north of Arabia, and ex- 
tending from the Euphrates on the east, to Phenicia, west. 



276 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. TAB 

This was the original Syria, so called hefore it was conquered 
and annexed to Assyria. 2. Coelo-Syria, or Syria in the vale, 
a name generally applied to the country lying between the 
mountainous ridges of Libanus and Anti-Libanus ; though 
sometimes extended to the region about Damascus. 3. Syria 
Palestina, including the Holy Land, and the country on the 
north-west of it, called by the Greeks Phenicia. 

The term Syria in the New Testament is used in a more 
restricted sense, distinct from the Holy Land and from Phe- 
nicia, merely including the country lying north-east from the 
land of Canaan, having the Mediterranean and Phenicia on 
the west, and the Euphrates, east. In the early ages, Syria 
was divided into a number of small kingdoms, such as Syria 
Zobah, Syria of Damascus, Syria of Maacah, Syria of Rehob, 
&c. which were almost constantly at war with the Israelites. 
This country, in general, first became subject to Assyria, then 
to Babylon, next to Persia, and next to Alexander the Great. 
After his death, it was the seat of the kingdom of the Seleu- 
cidse, which, in its turn, fell before the power of the Romans. 
It was next under the dominion of the Saracens, to whom suc- 
ceeded the Turks, under whose government it exists at pre- 
sent. The ancient language of this country nearly resembled 
the Hebrew and Arabic, but still nearer the Chaldee ; at pre- 
sent, however, the Arabic is the general language of the 
country. 

Syro-phenicia : this is Phenicia, properly so called, of 
which Sidon was the capital ; but having by conquest been 
united with the Greek kingdom of Syria, it was called Syro- 
Phenicia. So we find a woman called by St. Mark, a Syro- 
phenician, (vii. 26.) because she was of this country, which 
was then considered as part of Syria. St. Matthew (xv. 22.) 
calls her a woman of Canaan, which she also was, as this 
country was peopled by the Canaanites, Sidon being the eld- 
est son of Canaan. Gen. x. 15. 



T. 

Taanach, a city of Manasseh, in Issachar, near Megiddo. 
Josh. xvii. 11. 

Taanath-shiloh, a place in the southern border of Ephraim. 
Josh. xvi. 6. 

Tabbath, a place near Abel-meholah. Judg. vii. 22. 

Taberah, an encampment of the Israelites in the wilder- 
ness ; north of Mount Sinai. Numb. xi. 3. 



TAH 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



277 



Tabor, a noted mountain in the tribe of Zebulon. It stands 
separate from all others, though there are some near it on the 
north, but these are much smaller. Its shape is almost coni- 
cal ; and its height about 3000 feet On the summit were 
anciently a castle and other fortifications, which were very 
strong, and the scene of many sanguinary contests between 
the Crusaders and the Saracens. The ruins of these yet re- 
main, and present stones of a monstrous size, which must have 
been carried up the mountain by some art now unknown. It 
is believed that on this mountain our Saviour was transfigured, 
in the presence of Peter, James, and John, (Matt. xvii. 1. 
Luke ix. 28.) and there yet remain three contiguous grottoes, 
made to represent the three tabernacles which St. Peter pro- 
posed to erect, in the astonishment that possessed him at the 
glory of the transfiguration. 




Travellers represent the prospect from the summit of Mount 
Tabor as singularly beautiful. 

Tadmor, a city built by Solomon in the desert of Syria, 1 
Kings ix. 18. See Palmyra. 

Tahpanhes, Tahapanes, or Taphnes, a city of Egypt, men 
tioned frequently by the prophet Jeremiah, (ii. 16. xliii. 7, 
&c.) also by Ezekiel, (xxx. 18.) written Hanes in Isaiah, 
(xxx. 4.) It is thought to be the city called afterwards 
Daphne Pelusiai, and situated not far from Pelusium. 

Y 



278 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



TAR 



Tahath, an encampment of the Israelites in the desert, 
near Makheloth. Numb, xxxiii. 26. 

Tahtim-hodshi, a tract in Manasseh, lying about lake Se- 
mechon, east of it, and near the head of the Jordan. 2 Sam. 
xxiv. 6. 

Tamar, a city supposed to be situated near the southern 
shore of the Dead Sea. Ezek. xlvii. 19. 

Tanach, the same as Taanach. 

Tappuah, a city on the frontier of Manasseh, but belonging 
to Ephraim, (Josh. xvii. 8.) probably the same elsewhere call- 
ed En-tappuah. Another town of this name belonged to the 
tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 34. 

Tar ah, an encampment of the Israelites in the desert, near 
Tahath. Numb, xxxiii. 27. 

Taralah, a city of Benjamin. Josh, xviii. 27. 

Tarshish, the original country of this name, or the settle- 
ment of Tarshish the son of Javan, was probably in Cilicia, 
in Asia Minor, in the region where afterwards was built the 
city of Tarsus. (See Part I. p. 19.) That this country was 
called Tarshish, we have the testimony of Josephus and many 
other ancient writers of good authority. The people, being 
an enterprising and commercial nation, established colonies in 
different countries, and these colonies being also called Tar- 
shish, after the name of the parent state, it has become diffi- 
cult to ascertain the situation of the different places mention- 
ed in Scripture under this name. 

Tarshish was a sea-port, from which the best specimens of 
ship-building were produced, so that ships built after the same 
manner were called ships of Tarshish, though not actually 
built there. (Isa. ii. 16. xxiii. 1. Psalm xlviii, 7.) Silver was 
the produce of Tarshish, (Jer. x. 9. Ezek. xxvii. 12.) and it 
also appears from Ezekiel that iron, lead, and tin were brought 
from that place. It was also distant, and westward, since 
Jonah intended to flee thither. But neither silver nor tin 
were supplied by Tarsus in Cilicia ; and what is said of the 
fleets of Solomon and Jehoshaphat, (1 Kings xxii. 49. 2 Chron. 
ix. 21. xx. 36.) excludes this from being the Tarshish of these 
places ; for they would not be likely to build vessels on the 
Red Sea to navigate to Cilicia; neither would Jonah quit 
Joppa for Tarsus, with the intention of avoiding the road to 
Nineveh. The Tarshish to which Jonah thought to flee, was 
probably Tartessus in Spain, anciently called Tarshish, and 
settled by a colony from the parent state in Cilicia. The ships 



TEK 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



279 



of Solomon and Johoshaphat were probably called " ships of 
Tarshish," from their being built in the same manner as those 
of Tarshish ; but the Tarshish to which they sailed is unknown. 
Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia, and the native city of St; 
Paul. (Acts ix. 11. xxl 39.) This city was situated on the 
river Cydnus, and was probably very ancient It was suc- 
cessively possessed by the Greeks and Romans, and was cele- 
brated for the cultivation of learning. In the schools of this 
city, St Paul was early imbued with a knowledge of history 
and the liberal sciences. Tarsus still survives, under the name 
of Tarsous, but it is mostly a heap of ruins. 




No. 1. A medal of Tarsus, showing that Minerva, as the goddess of 
arts and sciences, was revered in this city. On the medal she holds a 
Victory offering a garland, turning from the goddess. Inscription, Tar- 
sus the metropolis ; the letters added are obscure in their import 

No. 2. This medal contains two circles of heads, each having seven, 
male and female ; the heads of the inner circle are divided by spokes 
like those of a wheeL The upper head of the outer circle, which is 
crowned with laurel, has on eaeh side of it a Victory offering a crown, 
with a palm branch m the other hand. The import of all this is ob- 
scure. Inscription the same as on the former, tarsou metropoleos, 
with the same added letters, A. M. K. G. B. which possibly mean Au 
tocrator Marcus C&sar ; the second year. 

Taverns, three, a place about 30 miles from Rome, where 
St. Paul was met by some Christians on his way thither. Acts 
xxviii. 15. 

Tekoa, a city of Judah, nine miles south-east from Bethle- 
hem. (2 Chron. xi. 6. xx. 20.) The prophet Amos was a 
native of this place. Amos L 1. 



280 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. THY 

Tel-abib, a place in Chaldea, to which some of the captive 
Israelites were carried. Ezek. iii. 15. 

Telem, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 24.) probably the same 
called Telaim, in 1 Sam. xv. 4. 

Tel-harsa, and Telmelah, places in Babylonia, situation 
unknown. Ezra ii. 59. Nehem. vii. 61. 

Teman, a region in Arabia. Jer. xlix. 7. Ezek. xxv. 

Thebez, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, not far from She- 
chem. Judges ix. 50. 2 Sam. xi. 21. 

Thelassar, or Telassar, a place of which tie exact situa- 
tion is not known, but it seems to have been in Assyria or 
Armenia. (2 Kings xix. 12. Isaiah xxxvii. 12.) lc is thought 
to be the same as Ellasar. Gen. xiv. 1. 9. 

Thessalonica, now called Salonichi, an ancient city of 
Macedonia, situated at the head of the Thermaieus Sinus, or 
Gulf of Salonichi. It was once a powerful city ; but passing" 
successively under the dominion of the Greeks, Romans,. Sa- 
racens, Venetians, and Turks, it gradually declined. Though 
now in a state of decay, it still exhibits some remains of its 
ancient greatness ; and, having a noble harbour, is yet a place 
of considerable trade. In the times of the apostles, there seem 
to have been a number of Jews here, who had a synagogue, in 
which Paul preached, and converted some; but a tumult being 
raised against him, he was sent away from the city. Acts xviL 
1, 2, &c. 

This place will long be memorable on account of two epis- 
tles written by St. Paul to the Thessalonians. 

Thisbe, the native place of Tobit, (i. 2.) It was in the tribe 
of Naphtali, and probably near the city called Kedesh in the 
Old Testament. 

Thyatira, a city in the north of Lydia, in Asia Minor, on 
the small river Lye us, not far from its source. Pliny says its 
ancient name was Pelopia, and according to Strabo, it was 
founded by a colony of Macedonians. Thyatira has suffered 
the same revolutions and changes of rulers as the other cities 
in this country, and, like most of them, now lies in ruins. It 
is called at present by the Turks Ak-hisar, or the white castle, 
from some cliffs of white marble in its vicinity. Among its 
ruins are found inscriptions, commemorating " the most potent 
and great city of the Thyatireans." The church of Thyatira 
was one of the seven addressed in the Revelations, (ii. 18.) 
This place is 26 miles north from Sardis* 



TIM 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



281 










Apollo represented 
m his car, as the god 
of day; his head sur- 
rounded by rays: the 
chariot in which he 
rides has somewhat 
the appearance of a 
rainbow. It is drawn 
by three lions; and 
under each of the ex- 
terior lions is a bull's 
head. This alliance 
of the solar light, the 
lions and the bull, is 
another evidence of 
the progress of idola- 
try from the east ; the 
lions being, as Dr. 
Wells thinks the em- 
blem of Mount Cau- 
casus, and the bull of Mount Taurus ; the subject of the medal being 
the representation of the solar light rising behind these mountains. 

Tiberias, a city on the western shore of the sea of Galilee, 
near its southern extremity ; built by Herod the tetrarch of 
Galilee, and named by him in honour of Tiberius Caesar. The 
great privileges granted by Herod to the inhabitants of this 
place, made it quickly become one of the principal cities of 
these parts. In the time of the Jewish wars, Josephus took 
possession of this city, and defended it bravely for some time ; 
but being taken by Vespasian, its walls were partly beaten 
down, and the city otherwise greatly demolished. In the days 
of its prosperity, it had thirteen synagogues and an academy ; 
and here was held the last session of the Jewish Sanhedrim. 
Here also the Talmud, or body of the Jewish civil and canon 
law, was collected. 

From this city, the Sea of Galilee is frequently called in 
the New Testament the Sea of Tiberias. 

Tiehath, a city of Syria, taken and plundered by David, 
(1 Chron. xviiL 8.) probably the same called Betah. 2 Sam. 
viii. 8. 

Timnah, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 10. 

Timnath, a city of Dan, in the country of the Philistines. 
Josh. xix. 43. Judges xiv. 1. 

Timnath-serah, a city in Mount Ephraim given to Joshua, 
(Josh. xix. 50.) ealled also Timnath-heres, (Judges ii. 9.) 
whence Mount Heres. Judges i. 35. 

Y2 



282 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



TRA 




Tiphsah, a city on the Euphrates, which was the frontier 
of Solomon's extensive empire, (1 Kings iv. 24.) and probably 
the same afterwards called by the Greeks Thapsacus. There 
was also a city of this name in the tribe of Ephraim, six 
miles from Samaria. 2 Kings xv. 16. 

Tirzah, a city of Ephraim. See Part I. p. 61. 

Tob, a country in Syria, north-east of the Land of Canaan, 
to which Jephthah retired, (Judg. xi. 3. 5.) and probably the 
same called Ish-tob, in 2 Sam. x. 6. 8. It is called Tobie, (1 
Mace. v. 13.) and is probably the country of the Tubieni, men- 
tioned in 2 Mace. xii. 17. 

A medal of Tob, or Tabe, on 
which the inscription demos ta- 
benon, the people of Tabe, seems 
to infer the existence of a demo- 
cratic government. This was not 
customary in Syria, though there 
is an instance of it in Gaza, of 
which there is a medal inscribed 
demos gazaion. Now we learn 
that in Tob " there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out 
with him," probably on military expeditions, he being their chief: and 
with this agrees the request of the elders of Gilead, that he would be 
their captain. Ish-tob signifies Tob of the chief, or leader, and seems 
to corroborate the democracy implied by the inscription on our medal. 
Whether this democratic form originated with Jephthah cannot be de- 
termined ; but that it lasted after his time appears at least probable, and 
our medal proves that something like it was extant in the time of Ha- 
drian, to whose reign this medal is referred. 

Tochen, a city of Simeon. 1 Chron. iv. 32. 

Togarmah, a son of Gomer. See Part I. p. 17. 

Tolad, a city of Simeon, (1 Chron. iv. 29.) written El-tolad. 
Josh. xv. 30. xix. 4. 

Tophel, a place in the wilderness, near the Red Sea, 
Deut. i. 1. 

Tophet, the name of a place in the valley of Hinnom, near 
Jerusalem, rendered abominable by idolatry. 2 Kings xxiii. 
10. Jer. vii. 31, 

Trachonitis, a mountainous region lying on the north-east 
of Canaan, between Iturea and the country of Damascus, 
having Bashan or Batanea on the west, and Arabia Deserta 
east ; and extending from Iturea to the country of Damascus. 
It seems to have been nearly the same as the country of Ar- 
gon, (Deut. iii, 13.) or the region about Mount Gilead, which, 
from its craggy mountains, was called by the Greeks Trch 



TYR DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 283 

chonitis, i. e. the rough or mountainous country. This region, 
together with Iturea, in the time of our Saviour, formed one 
tetrarchy. (Luke iii. 1.) In order to understand the mean- 
ing of the words tetrarch and tetrarchy, it is necessary to 
observe, that on the death of Herod the Great, his dominions 
were divided into four parts, which were thence called 
teferarchies, from the Greek tetra, four, and arche, a govern- 
ment. Of these, the tetrarchy of Galilee belonged to Herod 
Antipas, that of Iturea and Trachonitis to his brother Philip, 
that of Abilene to Lysanias, and the fourth, consisting of 
Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, to Archelaus, the eldest son of 
Herod the Great, who for some time enjoyed the title of king, 
but being afterwards displaced, his kingdom was made a 
province of the Roman empire, and was governed by Pontius 
Pilate at the time of our Saviour's crucifixion. 

Tripolis, a city of Phenicia, on the Mediterranean, north 
of Sidon, and beyond the boundaries of the Holy Land. The 
name denotes three cities, and it is said to be so called because 
built by the joint expense of the three cities, Tyre, Sidon, and 
Aradus. It seems to have been of no great note in early 
times, and is mentioned in 2 Mace. xiv. 1. as the place where 
Demetrius landed with his forces. In the primitive days of 
the church, it was made an Episcopal see by the archbishop 
of Tyre, and had become a place of some account in the time 
of the crusades, being taken by the Christians, and made the 
capital of Phenicia under their government. It yet remains 
to be one of the principal towns along this coast, being tolera- 
bly fortified, and the houses neatly built with stone. It has 
some trade, and a French and Italian vice-consul generally 
reside here. 

Troas, a small country in Asia Minor, lying west of Mysia, 
on the sea-coast. It took this name from its principal city, 
Troas, built, as it is said, about four miles from the site of 
ancient Troy, by Lysimachus, a general of Alexander the 
Great, who peopled it from the neighbouring cities, and call- 
ed it Alexandria, or Troas Alexandri, in honour of Alexander, 
who began the work, but did not live to complete it. In 
after times it was called simply Troas, which name, in the 
sacred writers, denotes the country as well as the city, but 
chiefly the latter. 

St. Paul repeatedly preached in Troas, and here he left his 
cloak, his books, and his parchments. (2 Tim. iv. 13.) Here 
also he had a vision, in which the form of a man appeared to 






284 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



TYR 



him, and invited him to pass over into Macedonia to promote 
vhe work of God there. (Acts xvi. 9.) In this vicinity are yet 
seen fallen walls and other ruins, supposed to be the remains 
of ancient Troy, so famed by the poets for its ten years' siege 
by the Greeks ; and also a number of conical mounds or tu- 
muli, some of them a hundred feet in diameter at the base, 
supposed to be the tombs of Hector, Achilles, Patroclus, Ajax, 
and other heroes, slain in the Trojan war. The rivers Sca- 
mander and Simois yet meander through the plain of Troy 
and near their confluence was the site of the ancient Ilium. 
The Scamander has now but little water, and part of its an- 
cient channel is overgrown with grass. 

Trogyllium, a promontory of Mycale, near Samos, at 
which was a town where St. Paul tarried one day. Acts 
xx. 15. 

Tyre, a celebrated city of Phenicia, in the north-west of 
Canaan, belonging to the tribe of Asher, (Josh. xix. 29.) and 
situated on the coast, about 20 miles south of Sidon. It is sup- 
posed to have been originally built by a colony of Sidonians, 
. whence it is called by Isaiah (xxiii. 12.) the daughter of Si- 
don; and stood at first on a high hill, on the continent, /Where 
its ruins still remain, under the name of Palse-tyrus, or Old 
Tyre. In process of time the city was removed to an adja- 
cent rocky island, very near the main land, and became a 
place of very great trade and wealth, for some time excelling 
Sidon itself. Hence Isaiah says of Tyre, that her merchants 
were princes, and her traffickers were the honourable of the 
earth. It was particularly famous for dying purple, said to 
have been first discovered by a mere accident, a dog's lips hav- 
ing been coloured purple by eating of a certain shell-fish. 
Tyre was taken and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar ; but hav- 
ing recovered from this, it flourished for a considerable time, 
until it was again demolished by Alexander the Great, who 
had joined it to the main land by a mole or bank of earth, and 
took it, after a siege of seven months, B. C. 332. Again 
recovering both its beauty and riches, this city became a con- 
federate of the Romans, and for its fidelity was invested with 
the privileges of a Roman city. Under the dominion of the 
Christians it was the metropolitan see for the province of 
Phenicia ; but in A. D. 636, it was subjected by the Saracens, 
and having remained under their dominion 418 years, it was 
taken by the Crusaders in 1124. It was finally subdued by 
the Turks, A. D. 1289, who still hold it. 



TYR 



DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 



285 



Tyre is now called Sour, which resembles its ancient He- 
brew name, Zor, or Tzor, and stands upon a peninsula which 
projects into the sea in an oval form. It is a solid rock, cover- 
ed with brown earth, and is 800 paces long, and 400 broad. 
The place is now a miserable village, consisting of forty or 
fifty poor families, who subsist on the produce of their few 
rods of land, and a trifling fishery. Thus is fulfilled the 
prophecy that Tyre, the queen of nations, should be a place 
for fishers to spread their nets. (Ezek. xxvi. 5.) The glory 
of Tyre is departed, — and instead of the greatness and com- 
mercial prosperity described by Ezekiel, (xxvi. xxvii. xxviii.) 
there now remain but a few poor wretches harbouring amongst 
the ruins. 




JNo. 1. A medal of Tyre, representing, as some have supposed, the 
Tyrians in the act of presenting a plan of their city to Dido, afterwards 
Queen of Carthage. But there appears no reason why Dido should 
wear the sacred measure on her head, as that was restricted to a divinity. 
It is therefore probable that this figure is Astarte, to whom the Tyrians 
are, as it were, devoting their city, by offering a representation of it. 

No. 2. Represents a ship, on the acrostolium of which hangs a shield, 
a proper emblem of this mercantile and warlike city. On this vessel 
stands Astarte, holding a palm branch in her left hand ; with her right 
she points with a sceptre, and is directing a boy genius, who is pouring 
a vase of water into the sea, from whence another boy genius appears 
to have recently taken two fishes^ one of which, a dolphin, he offers to 
the goddess. This scene appears to pass on the sea shore, and may be 
allied to a custom still extant, which is mentioned by Volney. He says 
there is a well on the shore, containing good water, but from some un- 
known cause it becomes troubled in September, and continues for some 
days full of a reddish clay. This season is observed as a kind of festival 
by the inhabitants, who then come in crowds to the well, and pour into 
it a bucket of sea water, which they believe has the virtue of restoring 
the clearness of the spring. 



286 SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. ZAR 

U. 

Ulai, a river of Susiana in Persia, which ran by the city 

H and palace of Shushan, the capital. It is said to have been 

8 the greatest river of the province, and that the Persian kings 

used no other water. On the banks of this river Daniel had 

a vision, described in Dan. viii. 2, &c. 

Ummah, a city of Asher. Josh. xix. 30. 

Uphaz, the name of a country producing gold, which some 
suppose to be the same as Ophir. Calmet supposes it was the 
region about the river Phasis, east of the Euxine or Black Sea. 

Ur, a place in the land of the Chaldees, which was the 
original residence of Abraham. See Part I. p. 29. 

Uz, the country about Damascus, including part of Arabia 
Deserta, and extending to Arabia Petrsea on the south. See 
Part L p. 22. This agrees with what is said in the book of 
Job, (i. 15. 17.) respecting his cattle being carried off by the 
Sabeans, who were a people of Arabia; and also of his having 
been robbed of his camels by the Chaldeans, who dwelt on the 
east of Uz. 

Uzzen-sherah, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, probably near 
Beth-horon. 1 Chron. vii. 24. 



Z. 

Zaanan, a city of Judah, (Micah i. 11.) written Zenan in 
Josh. xv. 37. 

Zaanannim, a city in the limits of the tribe of Naphtali. 
Josh. xix. 33. 

Zair, a city of Edom, probably the same as Seir, which is 
a name for Edom. 2 Kings viii. 21. 

Zalmon, a mount near Shechem. Judges ix. 48. 

Zalmonah, an encampment of the Israelites in the wilder- 
ness, near Mount Hor. Numb, xxxiii. 41. 

Zaphon, a city of Gad. Josh. xiii. 27. 

Zamzummims, a race of giants who inhabited the country 
east of Jordan. See Part I. p. 52. 

Zanoah, the name of two towns in Judah. Josh. xv. 34. 56. 
Nehem, iii. 13. xi. 30. 

Zared, or Zered, a brook, or valley of Moab, on the east of 
Jordan. Numb. xxi. 12. Deut. ii. 13, 14. 

Zarephath, a city in the tribe of Asher, situated on the 
coast, between Tyre and Sidon. This was the place where 
the prophet Elijah dwelt while there was a famine in the lanr 



ZIO DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE. 287 

of Israel. (1 Kings xvii. 9, 10.) It is called Sarepta in the 
New Testament. (Luke iv. 26.) In the time of Jerom they 
still showed the place where the prophet dwelt. There is 
yet a town here, called Saraphan, which consists of but a few 
houses on the top of the hills, half a mile from the Mediter- 
ranean. The ancient town probably stood between these hills 
and the sea, as an extent of ruins is now visible there. 

Zaretan, a place near the Jordan, (Josh. iii. 16.) called 
Zartanah in 1 King's iv. 12. and Zarthan, vii. 46. The brazen 
vessels for the temple were cast in the clay ground between 
this place and Succoth. 

Zareth-shahar, a city of Reuben. Josh. xiii. 19. 

Zeboim, one of the cities of the plain, destroyed by fire 
from heaven. See Part I. p. 31. 

A valley of this riame is mentioned, 1 Sam. xiii. 18. and 
also a city in the tribe of Benjamin. Neh. xi. 34. 

Zebulon, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. See Part I. p. 66. 

Zedad, a place in the northern border of the land of Ca- 
naan. Numb, xxxiv. 8. Ezek. xlvii. 15. 

Zelah, a city of Benjamin, (Josh, xviii. 28.) where Saul 
was buried. 2 Sam. xxi. 14. 

Zelzah, a place in the border of Benjamin. 1 Sam. x. 2. 

Zemaraim, a town of Benjamin, near the border of Ephraim. 
Josh, xviii. 22. 2 Chron. xiii. 4. 

Zenan, See Zaanan. 

Zephath, and Zephathah, a city and valley in the tribe of 
Simeon. Judg. i. 17. 2 Chron. xiv. 10. 

Zer, a town of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 35. 

Zered, See Zared. 

Zereda, the native place of Jeroboam, situated in the tribe 
of Ephraim, (1 Kings xi. 26.) probably the same as Zeredatha. 
2 Chron. iv. 17. 

Zererath, a place in Manasseh. Judg. vii. 22. 

Ziddim, a city of Naphtali. Josh. xix. 35. 

Zidon, See Sidon. 

Ziklag, a city of Judah, afterwards given to Simeon. 
(Josh. xv. 31. xix. 5.) This was a city of the Philistines, and 
was given to David by Achish, king of Gath ; after which it 
remained as a domain to the kings of Judah. 1 Sam. xxvii. 6. 

Zin, a wilderness near Mount Sinai, otherwise called Sin. 
See Part I. p. 44. 

Zion, a mountain ; the same as Sion. 

Zior, a city of Judah. Josh. xv. 54. 



288 



SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY. 



ZUZ 



Ziph, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 55.) near Carmel and 
Maon, east of Hebron ; near which was the wilderness of 
Ziph, to which David retired. (1 Sam. xxiii. 14.) There is 
another place of this name mentioned in Josh. xv. 24. as also 
belonging to Judah. 

Ziphron, a place in the northern limits of the land of the 
Israelites. Numb, xxxiv. 9. 

Ziz, a cliff. 2 Chron. xx. 16. 

Zoan, a very ancient city of Egypt, and probably the first 
royal seat of the Pharaohs, or ancient kings of Egypt. That 
it was the first built city of Egypt is probable from Numb, 
xiii. 22. where we read that Hebron was built seven years 
before Zoan, in Egypt. This observation seems to have been 
made to show the antiquity of Hebron, which was done by 
naming the most ancient city of Egypt. Several of the 
miracles wrought before Pharaoh are said to have been done 
in the field of Zoan. (Psalm lxxviii. 12.) This city is also 
mentioned by the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel. Zoan was 
called Tanis by the Greeks, and was situated on the second 
branch or mouth of the Nile, from the east, which was thence 
called the Tanitic mouth. 

Zoar, one of the five guilty cities of the plain, which was 
intended to be consumed with the others, but was saved at 
the intercession of Lot. See Part I. p. 31. 

Zobah, a kingdom of Syria, in the neighbourhood of Da- 
mascus. 2 Sam. viii. 3. 1 Chron. xviii. 3. 

Zoheleth, a stone by the fountain of En-rogel, near the 
walls of Jerusalem. 1 Kings i. 9. 

Zorah, a city of Dan; the birth-place of Samson. (Judg. 
xiii. 2.) It was near the border of Judah, and was rebuilt or 
fortified by Rehoboam. (2 Chron. xi. 10.) It is written 
Zoreah in Josh. xv. 33. 

Zuzims, a gigantic people, inhabiting the country east of 
the Jordan. Gen. xiv. 5. 



THE END. 



* 






SCRIPTURE 



OR 

A CONCISE ACCOUNT 



Ultimate vzfzvvzti to in t!)t J$itlz; 



INTENDED TO ILLUSTRATE 



THE MEANING OF THE SACRED WRITERS. 






BY 

THOMAS T. SMIIiEY, A.M. M. D. 



WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

JOHN C. CLARK, 60 DOCK STREET. 

1836. 






PREFACE. 



Almost every object in Nature has been referred to 
by the sacred writers, to enforce the sublime truths con- 
tained in the Holy Scriptures. The manners, habits, 
and instincts of the Animal creation, especially, have fur- 
nished abundant materials for the illustration of every 
character and every passion which is found amongst the 
human race. In order, therefore, to understand the 
beauty and force of the similes and comparisons used 
in the sacred writings, we must study the Natural His- 
tory of the animals mentioned therein, and when we 
do so, we shall find that every class of animals has 
furnished some quality or instinct, implanted by the 
Great Author of their existence, which has been referred 
to by the sacred writers for our instruction, and which, 
when duly considered, will tend greatly both to our profit 
and amusement, and can hardly fail to improve our 
understanding, and increase our gratitude to Him, to 
whom we are indebted for every good and perfect gift. 

" From the creatures of God, let man learn wisdom." 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 









Adder. The adder is a venomous reptile, supposed by 
naturalists to be the same with the Asp. The poison is of 
such a rapid operation that it kills almost on the instant the 
bite is inflicted, without the possibility of applying any re- 
medy. The most remarkable mention of it is in Psalm Iviii. 
4, where the adder or asp is said to " stop its ears that 
it may not hear the voice of the charmer." Some are of opi- 
nion that there is a sort of adder really deaf, which is of the 
most dangerous kind, and that the Psalmist here speaks of 
this species. Some authors think that the adder when old be- 
comes deaf; others again, that it, as well as other serpents, 
possesses the sense of hearing in an exquisite degree, but that 
when any one attempts to charm it, it stops its ears by apply- 
ing one ear close to the earth and stopping the other with the 
end of its tail. The expression is probably taken from actual 
observation of nature. That serpents are overcome as if 
charmed, so that while they would bite some persons with 
great violence they are harmless to others, has often been as- 
serted by travellers in the East. 

Ant. The ant, both by sacred and profane writers, is re- 
ferred to as a pattern of industry. " Go to the Ant, thou 
sluggard, consider her ways and be wise," (Prov. vi. 6.) is an 
observation made by the wisest of men. It is said, (Prov. 
xxx. 25.) " the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare 
their meat in Summer." 

In our climate the ants are small in size, and in every respect, 
insignificant animals, when compared with those which inha- 
bit the eastern tropical countries, which are no doubt the kind 
referred to by the sacred writer. In the East the ant is often 
found three-quarters of an inch in length, and constructs works 
which surpass those of the bees, beavers, and other animals, 
as much at least as those of the most polished nations exceed 
those of the least cultivated savages. Their dwellings con- 
A2 



6 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY** 



tain various apartments and galleries, constructed on a scale 
which, compared with the size of the architect, greatly exceed 
the labours of man. The height of their buildings is ten or 
twelve feet above the ground, and their galleries and subter- 
raneous passages extend about as many feet below the surface 
of the earth. They are built in so solid a manner, that when 
half constructed, the wild bulls stand on the top for the pur- 
pose of discovering the approach of an enemy, and when com- 
pleted, they support the weight of a man with perfect safety. 

Ape. The ape is an animal of the monkey tribe, and is 
mentioned (1 Kings, x. 22.) amongst the curiosities which 
Solomon's fleet brought from Ophir. 

Those of the monkey tribe which have no tails are termed 
apes, and those which have short tails are called baboons. Of 
all the kinds of apes, the Pongo, or Ouran Outang, most re- 
sembles mankind. This animal grows from six to seven feet 
high, and possesses strength as great as that of several men 
together. They build sheds for their accommodation, and 
make use of clubs for their defence. Their faces are broad, 
and noses flat, and their skins, which are fairer than those of 
a mulatto, are covered on many parts of their body with taw- 
ney coloured hair, 




Anciently, the Egyptians and some other nations worship- 
ped apes, and they are still an object of adoration in many 
countries in the East. The engraving represents a temple 
in which apes are worshipped in the island of Japan. 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 







Ass. An animal of the horse kind, with a long head, long 
ears, and round body, covered with short, coarse hair. Asses 
are generally of a pale dun colour, with a black streak along 
the back and another across the shoulders, with the tail hairy 
only at the end. 

The Eastern asses are bigger and more beautiful than ours, 
and on them did even great men, as Abraham, Moses, and Da- 
vid's family ride. There are wild asses, which were once 
very common in Canaan and Arabia, and are still so in Africa; 
they are extremely beautiful, of a gray colour, and run so fast 
that only the fleetest horses can overtake them ; they are jeal- 
ous of their liberty, and are usually seen in flocks. To the 
wild asses the Ishmaelites are compared to represent their per- 
petual freedom and their restless and savage temper. (Gen. 
xvi. 12.) On the banks of the river Euphrates were asses 
altogether white, and on such the Hebrew princes rode in the 
days of 'Deborah. (Judges, v. 10.) 

However honourable asses might be among the Jews be- 
fore the days of David, or in more modern times among the 
lawyers of Persia, yet in the days of our Saviour, they were 
not in much more respect than among us at present, therefore 
his riding upon one in his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, 
marked him as the debased king of Israel. (Zech. ix. 9. John, 
xii. 14.) 

Under the law, asses were unclean, and their firstlings were 
to be redeemed with a lamb, or to have their necks broken, 
and are emblems of stubborn and wicked men. Of old, the 



8 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

ass was remarkably honoured by being made the instrument, 
by the miraculous interposition of God, in rebuking- the mad- 
ness of Balaam, when he attempted to urge her forward when 
stopped* by the fear of the angel. (Numb. xxii. 22.) Nor ought 
men to ridicule this story till they demonstrate the incapacity 
of infinite power to make this animal speak, or the impropriety 
of rebuking a proud diviner, by such a stupid and contemptible 
creature. 

Badger. The badger is a four-footed animal which bur- 
rows in the earth. It is of a greyish colour, with long, stiff 
hair, and it feeds on small animals, and on the roots of vege- 
tables. The uppermost covering of the tabernacle, according 
to our translation, was made of badgers' skins, (Exod. xxvi. 
14.) and they were also used for shoes, (Ezek. xvi. 10.) but 
it is now the general opinion of critics that the original 
word refers to the colour, and not to the animal, at any rate, 
not to the animal known to us by that name. 

Bat. This animal has often been ranked with birds; but 
it has the mouth of a quadruped, not the beak of a bird : it is 
covered with hair, and produces its young alive, and in fact 
greatly resembles a mouse. It has no pretensions to be ranked 
amongst birds, except that it can fly; but in that respect its 
wings are entirely different from birds, being nothing more 
than thin, fleshy membranes. 

During the winter, bats cover themselves with their wings 
and hang in a torpid state, in caves or old buildings. During 
the summer, they hide themselves in the day, and in the night 
flutter about, catching flies and other insects. Some bats 
have tails and others have none. Some bats, in China and 
other countries of the East, are as large as hens. The large 
bats of Brazil, Madagascar, and some other countries, fasten 
on persons whom they find sleeping, and suck their blood. 
Bats were unclean under the law. (Levit. xi. 19. Isa. ii. 20.) 

Bear. The bear is a large four-footed beast of prey, co- 
vered with a thick, shaggy fur, so as to appear like a shape- 
less lump. The colour of the bear is generally a blackish 
brown, but in cold countries it is white. The feet of bears are 
so formed, that in walking they always tread on their heel. 
They feed on fruits and flesh, and are very ravenous, ex- 
tremely kind to their young, and become dreadfully enraged 
when deprived of them. 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 




Bears are found in most countries, and they were common 
in Palestine. David attacked one as he attended his father's 
flock, and two she bears tore in pieces forty-two children, who 
mocked the prophet Elisha. (1 Sam. xvii. 34. 2 Kings, ii. 23, 
24.) 

God compares himself to a bear robbed of her whelps to 
mark his anger against his enemies. (Hos. xiii. 8. Lam. iii. 
10.) Angry men are compared to bears robbed of their young. 
(2 Sam. xvii. 8. Prov. xvii. 12.) The Persian monarchy is 
represented by a bear, (Dan. vii. 5.) and Antichrist is said to 
have the feet of a bear. (Rev. xiii. 2.) 




Bee. The bee is a small insect, bred from a worm, and 
very remarkable for skill and industry in gathering honey and 
wax from flowers. Bees have four wings, and a tail pointed 
with a sting, through which they emit a poisonous juice, and 
which, being barbed, often remains in the wound. 



10 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

There are several kinds of wild bees, but the common bees 
have most attracted the attention of man. Their sagacity in 
collecting their honey and wax, in forming their combs, in 
distributing their labours, and in punishing idlers, is very re- 
markable. T]kgv seldom hurt any one with their stings unless 
hurt or provoked. Among the bees are three kinds in the 
same family or hive; the queen, the labouring bees, and the 
drones. The. queen deposits her eggs in cells prepared for 
that purpose, and so brings forth a new swarm, to the number 
perhaps of twenty thousand in a year. There are sometimes 
two or three queens in the same hive, and they are much 
larger than any of the other bees. The labouring bees are far 
the most numerous, and collect the wax and honey, and pre- 
pare the combs in which the honey is deposited. The drones, 
or males, are larger than the common working bees, but are 
not so large as the queens. 

The land of Judea was especially noted for the multitude 
of bees, and is often denominated a land flowing with milk 
and honey. Under the law the bee was unclean, (Lev. xi. 
23.) though its honey was not. The armies of the Amo- 
rites, the Assyrians, and David's enemies, are compared to 
bees. (Deut. i. 44. Ps. cxviii. 12. Isa. vii. 18.) f 

In Palestine and the adjoining countries, the bee-hives 
are usually made of clay, about four feet long and half a foot 
in diameter. They lay ten or twelve of these over one ano- 
ther and cover them with a little roof. 

Behemoth. To convince Job of his insignificance before 
him, God requires him to consider this animal. He represents 
him as made with him, or near to his abode, harmlessly feed- 
ing on the grass of mountains, lying among willows, reeds, 
and fens, and as extremely fierce and courageous. The word 
Behemoth is Hebrew, and often signifies beasts in general, 
but in Job xl. 15-24, it has a reference to some particular 
animal. It is now generally conceded to be the river horse, 
or Hippopotamus. 

The hippopotamus is a quadruped resembling partly the 
buffalo and partly the bear, though longer than either. His 
length from head to tail is about thirteen feet, his girth about 
the same, and his height six feet. His head is large in pro- 
portion, destitute of horns, and his mouth opens very wide. 
His eys are small, and his ears also small and thin. In the 
lower jaw he has two tusks, about a foot long and somewhat 
crooked. His teeth are hard as flint, and will strike fire with 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 11 

steel. His legs resemble those of a bear, are about three feet 
round, and three feet and a half in length; and each foot has a 
black hoof, divided into four claws at the end. His tail is 
very thick and short, tapering away to the end and cannot be 
twisted, and his skin is very thick and exceedingly tough. 
As he is not formed for swimming, he walks on the bottom 
of the river as other animals do on land. He feeds on fish, 
which he is said to catch with great facility, and also comes 
out frequently on the land to feed on rice, clover, and other 
vegetables, destroying by his huge feet more than he eats. 

When pursued on land, he cannot move fast, and his re- 
source is to plunge into the water and swim a great distance 
before he reappears. He commonly retreats from his pur- 
suers, but if wounded, he becomes furious, and facing about, 
rushes against the boats, seizes them with his teeth, often 
tears pieces out of them, and sometimes sinks them under 
water. 

" I have seen," says a traveller, " an hippopotamus open 
his mouth, fix one tooth on the side of the boat, and another 
to the second plank under the keel, that is four feet distant 
from each other, pierce the side through and through, and in 
this manner sink the boat to the bottom." 

These animals are only numerous in some parts of the 
world; it even appears that the species is confined to particu- 
lar climates, and is seldom to be met with out of the rivers of 
Africa. 

Bittern. Of all the sounds produced by the feathered 
race, there is none so dismal as that produced by the bittern. 
It is described as resembling the interrupted bellowings of a 
bull, but louder; and is heard at the distance of a mile, as if 
issuing from some formidable being that resided at the bottom 
of the waters. 

Considering the dismal sound uttered by this bird, there 
would therefore be a peculiar propriety, when it was intended 
to prophesy the utter desolation of a city, to say that it should 
become " a possession to the bittern," as in the prophecy 
against Babylon, (Isa. xxxiv. 12.) and that " the cormorant 
and the bittern shall lodge" in it, as in the prophecy against 
Idumea. (Zeph. ii. 14.) 

The bittern is a bird of the heron kind, but less ; being not 
over four inches long. It differs from the heron chiefly in 
its colour, which is in general of a palish yellow, spotted 
and barred with black. It is a retired, timorous bird, con- 



12 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

cealing itself in the midst of reeds and marshy places, and 
living upon frogs, insects, and vegetables, and though so 
nearly resembling the heron in figure, differing much in man- 
ners and appetite. 

The foregoing description applies to the bird now known 
by the name of the bittern^ but whether it is the animal to 
which the sacred writer referred in the texts quoted, cannot 
certainly be determined. The word here translated bittern, 
has by some interpreters been rendered the owl, a tortoise, 
the beaver; and Bochart will have it the hedge-hog. Not- 
withstanding all these conjectures, however, we incline to the 
opinion that the word has been correctly rendered by our 
translators. 

Boar. The wild boar is usually thought to be the parent 
of the swine kind. It inhabits Asia as well as Europe, and 
retains its character and manners in almost every climate. 

It is well known that the flesh of the hog or swine was for- 
bidden, as food, to the Hebrews, (Lev. xi. 7. Deut. xiv. 8.) 
who held its flesh in such detestation that they would not so 
much as pronounce its name. Amongst the gross abomina- 
tions of which the Israelites were guilty in the time of Isaiah, 
that of eating swine's flesh is mentioned, (Isa. lxv. 4.) and 
for which punishment is denounced. (Isa. lxvi. 17.) 




Bull. Bullock. Ox. The male of the cow kind. The 
Jews never mutilated any of their male animals, nor do the 
Mahometans, at the present time ; their oxen were, therefore, 
bulls, properly so called. Besides the tame kind, whose 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 18 

strength, fierceness, and pushing with their horns are well 
known, there is a wild kind of bulls found in various parts 
of the world, which are of great size, exceedingly fierce and 
swift, and dwell in extensive forests, chiefly in Europe and 
Africa. Another kind of wild bull is called the Buffalo, mul- 
titudes of which run wild in the forests of America, which 
is a large, shaggy, fierce animal. There are also a great 
number of wild buffalos in the countries of Africa and India, 
which are watered with many rivers, and furnished with large 
meadows. 

With the Hebrews, bulls were clean animals. Bullocks 
or young bulls were often sacrificed in burnt-offerings and 
peace-offerings, and sometimes in sin-offerings. They re- 
presented the pure, patient, strong and laborious Redeemer, 
sacrificed for us. (Heb. ix. 13, 14.) The twelve brazen oxen 
which supported Solomon's brazen sea, three of which looked 
to every quarter, might represent the twelve Apostles and 
their successors in the gospel ministry, who labour to exhibit 
Jesus as the great means of purification from sin. (1 Kings, 
vii. 25-44. Jer. lii. 20.) Wicked men, chiefly rulers, are 
called bulls of Bashan, to denote their strength and fierceness. 
Bashan was a district of country, east of the Jordan, noted for 
its rich pastures and fine cattle ; hence the propriety of the 
comparison. A great many similar comparisons, in relation 
to this animal, are to be found in the Scriptures. 

The cow is the female of the ox kind, and very noted for 
her nutritious and wholesome milk. A young cow is called 
a heifer. The young of the cow is called a calf. Amongst 
the Hebrews, cows and heifers, as well as oxen, were used to 
draw the plough. When a man was found slain in the field, 
and the murderer could not be found, the magistrates of the 
city next to the spot, took a heifer which had never been 
yoked, and after striking off her head, they washed their 
hands in water, protesting their innocence of the crime, and 
ignorance of the murderer, and, together with the Levites 
present, solemnly begged that God would not lay it to the 
charge of their nation. (Deut. xxi. 1-9.) 

As the Hebrews had seen, and perhaps many of them had 
worshipped, the Egyptian god, Apis, which was a living bull, 
and sometimes adored in the form of one, or in the form of a 
man with a bull's head, they instigated Aaron to make them 
a golden calf in the wilderness, to which they, on the day 
after, observed a solemn festival. (Exod. xxxii.) When Je- 
roboam, the son of Nebat, who had resided for a time in Egypt, 

B 



14 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

got possession of the kingdom of Israel, he made two golden 
calves, the one he placed at Bethel, in the south, and the 
other at Dan, in the north of his kingdom. These calves, the 
ten tribes continued to worship for about two hundred and 
sixty years, till the kingdom of Israel was destroyed, and the 
people carried into captivity by the Assyrians. (1 Kings, xii. 
27, 28. Hos. x. 5. xiii. 2. 2 Kings, xvii.) 

Calf. The young of the cow kind. See Bull. 




Camel. The camel and the dromedary do not include two 
different species, but only indicate two distinct breeds, sub- 
sisting from time immemorial, in the camel species. The 
principal, and indeed the only perceptible character in which 
they differ, consists in the camel's bearing two bunches or 
protuberances on its back, and the dromedary only one. The 
dromedary is also less, and not so strong as the camel ; but 
they both herd and breed together, and the production from 
this cross breed is more vigorous, and of greater value than 
the others. The dromedary is, beyond comparison, more nu- 
merous and more universal than the camel ; the camel being 
seldom found in any other place than Turkey, while the 
dromedary is to be found in all the northern parts of Africa, 
in Egypt, Persia, in South Tartary, and in all the northern 
parts of India. 

The camel appears to be a native of Arabia, and his whole 
organization fits him for a residence in a sandy and barren 
country. His feet are formed for travelling in the sand, and 
are broad and flat to prevent him from sinking. He is also 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 15 

able to live without drink for seven or eight days, and to feed 
on the hardest and driest herbage. The Arabs regard the 
camel as a present from heaven, without whose assistance 
they could neither exist, trade, or travel. With his aid, in a 
single day, they can place a tract of desert of fifty miles, be- 
tween them and their enemies, and all the armies in the world 
would soon perish in pursuit of a troop of Arabs. 

Camels are covered with fine hair, which they cast in the 
spring, and from which a fine kind of stuff* is made. Their 
necks and legs are long and slender, and when they lift up 
their head it is very high. Their ears are short, and their 
tail about a foot long. Though camels chew the cud, yet as 
the division of their hoof is not complete, they were marked 
out by the law as unclean. 

The camel, in ancient times, formed a large part of the 
wealth of great men. Abraham, (Gen. xii. 16.) Jacob, (Gen. 
xxx. 43.) and especially Job, had large numbers of them. 
The Midianites and Amalekites (Judg. vi. 5. vii. 12.) had 
camels without number. The Reubenites took fifty thousand 
from the Hagarites. (1 Chron. v. 21.) The clothing of John 
the Baptist was of camel's hair. (Math. iii. 4.) In the refe- 
rence to this animal by our Saviour, (Math. xix. 24, and xxiii, 
24.) the expressions are no doubt proverbial. 

Camelion or Chamelion. This animal is a kind of lizard, 
with a long flat tail, and usually of a greenish yellow colour. 
On each of its four feet it has five toes, two or three of which 
adhere together. Its snout is long, and it has two small 
openings for its nostrils ; its eyes move in every direction, 
and often with a contrary motion. To catch flies it can dart 
out its tongue to the length of its whole body, and instantly 
contract it again. Some camelions, in Egypt, including the 
tail, are a foot in length. The camelion was once, very un- 
philosophically, believed to live on air. Its principal food is 
flies, which it catches with great facility, by darting out its 
tongue in the manner already described. Like the croco- 
dile, this animal proceeds from an egg, and in its form, bears 
a strong resemblance to that animal. 

The colour of this animal, in the shade, is a bluish grey, in- 
clining in some places to a pale red and yellow. But when 
it is removed into the sun, then comes the wonderful part of 
its history. At first it appears to suffer no change of colour, 
but the whole surface soon seems to imbibe the rays of light, 
and the simple colouring of the body changes into a variety of 



16 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

beautiful hues. Wherever the light comes on the body, it is 
of a tawny brown, but that part of the skin on which the sun 
does not shine, changes into several brighter colours, pale, 
yellow, or vivid crimson, which forms spots of the size of half 
one's finger; some of these descend from the spine half way 
down the back, and others appear on the sides, arms and tail. 
Sometimes the animal becomes all over spotted with brown 
spots of a greenish cast. The camelion is found in all warm 
countries both of the old and new world. 

According to the Levitical law, (Lev. xi. 30.) the came- 
lion was ranked among the unclean animals. 

Caterpillar. When the sun calls up vegetation, and vi- 
vifies the various eggs of insects, the caterpillars are the first 
that are seen to make their appearance. All this class have 
eight feet, at least, and some sixteen, which may serve to dis- 
tinguish them from the worm kind, which never have so 
many. 

When the caterpillar first bursts from its egg, it is weak 
and feeble, and its appetites are in proportion to its size ; but 
in its adult caterpillar state, it becomes the most ravenous of 
all animals, and will eat twice its own weight of leaves in a 
day. What would mankind do if their oxen or horses were 
equally voracious ? 

The body of the caterpillar, when anatomically examined, 
is found composed of rings, whose circumference is pretty 
near circular or oval. They are generally twelve in number, 
and are all membranous, by which this animal may be distin- 
guished from any other insect that nearly resembles it in 
form. Caterpillars also, with regard to their external figure, 
are either smooth or hairy. The skin of the first kind is soft 
to the touch, or hard, like shagreen. The skin of the latter, 
is hairy, and as it were, thorny, and generally, if handled, 
stings like nettles. 

The life of the caterpillar is almost one continued change ; 
it undergoes eight or ten transformations before it assumes 
the last, or butterfly state. 

When caterpillars are mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, it 
is either in reference to their immense numbers, or to their 
destructive and voracious habits, and are considered as in- 
struments, in the hands of the Almighty, for inflicting his 
vengeance against the ungodly. By caterpillars, the Lord 
plagued the Egyptians and wicked Jews. (Ps. lxxviii. 46. Joel, 
i. 4. ii. 25.) 

Chamelion. See Camelion. 




SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 17 

Chamois. The chamois is only 
found on the most craggy places of 
the highest mountains. The Alps, 
the Pyrenees, the mountains of 
Greece, and those of the Archipe- 
lago, are almost the only places where 
it is to be met with. j 

The chamois is a wild animal, but i 
easily tamed, and very docile. It is 
about the size of a domestic goat, and resembles one in many 
respects. It is very agreeable, lively, and active beyond ex- 
pression. Its hair is short, like that of the doe. In Spring 
it is of an ash colour, and in Winter, of a blackish brown. 
As they bound from rock to rock, they have rather the ap- 
pearance of flying than leaping. The chamois feeds upon the 
best herbage, drinks but very little, and ruminates, like the 
goat, in the intervals of feeding. Its head is crowned with 
two small horns of about half a foot long, of a beautiful black 
colour, and rising from the forehead, almost betwixt the eyes. 

The hides of these animals are very strong and supple, and 
good warm waistcoats and gloves are made of them. The 
hunting of the chamois is. very laborious, as well as exceed- 
ingly difficult and dangerous. 

This animal, by the Hebrew law, (Deut. xiv. 5.) was de- 
clared to be unclean; but it is disputed whether the Hebrew 
word, so translated, was really intended to be applied to the 
animal which now bears this name. 

Cock. A well known domestic 
fowl, which has his head orna- 
mented with a long fleshy crest, 
or comb, and has two wattles, 
lengthwise, under his throat. He 
is a robust and beautiful animal, 
whose feathers are often variegated 
with a number of elegant colours. 
He usually crows at two different 
times of the night; the first time, a 
little after midnight, and a second < 
time, about break of day. This last 
is usually called cock-crowing, and at this time the cock crew 
for the second time, after Peter had thrice denied his Master. 
(Mark, xiv. 68-72.) 

The hen, the female of the fowl kind, is so well known for 
B2 




18 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY 

her great care and tenderness of her young, that it is unne- 
cessary to do any thing more than refer to it. Our Lord, in 
his pathetic lamentation over Jerusalem, represents himself as 
having felt all the solicitude of a hen for her brood, but it 
would not accept his kindness and protection. (Mat. xxiii. 37.) 

Cockatrice. It does not appear that any such creature 
exists. The word so translated in our bibles, ought to be 
rendered serpent. It appears to have been a most venomous 
serpent which lurked in the holes of the earth. (Isa. xi. 8> 
xiv. 29. lix. 5. Jer. viii. 17.) 

Colt. The young of the horse kind. See Horse. 

Coney. The coney is believed to have been a species of 
the rabbit or hare; but by the expressions in the Scriptures 
would seem to have been of a smaller size. Some have 
thought that the jerboa or jumping mouse, which is very 
common in Palestine, was the animal intended. (Deut. xiv. 7. 
Ps. civ. 18. Prov. xxx. 26.) 

Cormorant. This is an aquatic bird of the pelican kind, 
about the size of a large muscovy duck, and may be distin- 
guished by its four toes being united by membranes together, 
and by the middle toe being toothed or notched, like a saw, 
to assist in holding its fishy prey. The head and neck of this 
bird are of a sooty blackness, and the body thick and heavy, 
more inclining, in figure, to that of the goose than the gnll. 
They are remarkably voracious, and have a most sudden di- 
gestion. Their appetite is forever craving and never satis- 
fied. 

This bird has the most rank and disagreeable smell, and is 
more foetid than even carrion, in its most healthful state. It 
is seen as well by land as sea ; it fishes in fresh water lakes, 
as well as in the depths of the ocean. It builds in the cliffs 
of the rocks as well as on trees, and preys not only in the day 
time, but at night. Its power of catching fish has induced 
some nations, as the Chinese, to breed this bird up tame, for 
that purpose. 

According to the Hebrew law, the cormorant was among 
the unclean birds. (Lev. xi. 17. Deut. xiv. 17.) It is re- 
ferred to in the prophecies against Idumea, (Isa. xxxiv. 11.) 
and Nineveh, (Zeph. ii. 14.) as an emblem of desolation. 




SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 19 

Cow or Kine. The female of the ox kind. See Bull, 

Crane. This is a tall, slender 
bird, with a long neck and long 
legs. The top of the head is co- 
vered with black bristles, and the 
back of it is bald and red, which 
sufficiently distinguishes this bird 
from the stork, to which it is 
nearly allied in size and figure. 
The plumage in general, is ash 
coloured, and there are two large 
tufts that spring from the pinion | 
of each wing. These bear a re- 
semblance to hair, finely curled at 

the end, and the bird has the power of erecting or depressing 
them at pleasure. The height of the common crane is about 
three feet, and its length four feet, though the body is not 
heavier than that of a turkey. 

Besides the species above described, there are two other 
varieties of the crane. The crowned or Belearic, and gigan- 
tic crane. The Belearic crane comes from the coast of Afri- 
ca and the Cape Verd Islands, and is about four feet high. 
The gigantic crane is much larger than the other species, 
measuring, from tip to tip of the wings, fifteen feet, and in 
height, seven feet and a half, when standing erect. The gi- 
gantic crane is an inhabitant of Bengal, and is sometimes found 
on the coast of Guinea. 

The crane is a very social bird, and is seldom seen alone. 
Their usual method of flying or sitting, is in flocks of fifty or 
sixty together, and while a part feed, the rest stand as senti- 
nels on duty. For the most part, it subsists upon vegetables, 
and frequently makes great destruction in the fields of corn. 
As they are birds of passage, they are seen to depart and re- 
turn regularly, at those seasons when their provision invites 
or repels them. In their migrations, it is amazing to conceive 
the heights to which they ascend when they fly. Their note 
is the loudest of all birds, and is often heard in the clouds, 
when the bird itself is entirely beyond the sight. 

The cold Arctic region seems to be the favourite abode of 
these birds, and they come down into the more southern cli- 
mates, rather as visiters than as inhabitants. 

Hezekiah compares his cries of pain and distress, during his 
sickness, to the notes of this bird, (Isa. xxxviii. 14.) and the 



20 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Jews were more stupid than cranes, storks, and turtles, be- 
cause they knew not the proper season of duty. (Jer. viii. 7.) 

Cuckoo. This is a solitary bird, whose beak is smooth, 
its nostrils hang a little forward, and its tongue is shaped 
somewhat like an arrow. It has four toes; two before and 
two behind, and its bulk is nearly equal to that of the sparrow 
hawk. Though this bird cannot boast much of its plumage, 
yet it is conspicuous for the lightness of its form and for its 
peculiar habits. It is about fourteen inches in length, shaped 
somewhat like a magpie, and distinguished from all other 
birds by its round prominent nostrils. The head, neck, 
back, and wings, are of a dove colour; the throat is pale grey, 
and the breast and belly white, crossed with wavy lines of 
black. The legs are of a yellow colour, and the claws white. 
It was once doubted whether this bird was carnivorous, but it 
has been found that their favourite food consists of insects 
and flesh. 

The female cuckoo is said to make no nest of her own, but 
to deposit a single egg in the nest of some other bird, by whom 
it is batched, and the young reared. 

The cuckoo is mentioned among the unclean birds; (Lev. 
xi. 16.) but it is very doubtful whether the bird now known 
by that name, is intended. Bochart, and some others, have 
thought the Hebrew word should have been rendered the£* 
sea-mew, or gull, but it is impossible to determine this point 
with certainty. 

Deer. This is the name of a race of quadrupeds which in- 
cludes several species; as the stag, or red deer, fallow deer, 
roebuck, reindeer, elk, moose, and some others. 

All the deer kind have branchy horns, which at first are 
long, but become smooth, and fall off yearly, and the female 
seldom has any horns. 

The stag is one of those mild, tranquil, and innocent ani- 
mals which seem as if they were formed solely to adorn and 
animate the solitude of the forests, and enjoy, remote from 
man, the peaceful retreats of nature. 

The horns of the stag continue to increase in bulk and 
height every year; from the second to the eighth, they remain 
beautiful, and much the same during the vigour of life; but 
as their body declines with age, their horns decline also. The 
horns of all the kinds of deer are, strictly, a bone, which 
sprouts from the bone of the forehead, and falling off every 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 21 

year, is again renewed. The annual shedding of the horns 
forms an important distinction between the deer and goat 
kind, as animals of the goat kind never shed their horns. 

The stag, or red deer, is about four feet high. The male 
is called a hart, the female, a hind. The most common co- 
lour of the stag is yellow, though there are many found of a 
tawny red colour. 

The stag and fallow deer, though of different species, have 
a very close resemblance to each other. 

The roebuck is much smaller than the stag, with horns 
much less spreading and elegant. The female is called the 
roe. 

The food of the deer is entirely vegetable, consisting chiefly 
of the tender shoots of trees, buds, and moss. The deer is a 
thirsty animal, drinking frequently, and in warm weather, 
plunging into the stream. The deer were allowed to be 
eaten, by the ceremonial law. (Lev. xi. 3. Deut. xiv. 5.) 

The deer is frequently mentioned in Scripture ; but gene- 
rally under the name of hart and hind. 




Dog. This is a well known domestic animal, consisting of 
a great number of varieties, differing greatly in character and 
appearance. The dog, amongst the Jews (and at the present 
time, in the east) was held in great contempt. The condition 
of the dogs amongst the Jews, probably did not differ much 
from that which now exists in the East, where they run about 
in troops, without any distinct owners, as amongst us, and 



22 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

procure food as they can best obtain it. That they were nu- 
merous and voracious in Jezreel, appears evidently by the his- 
tory of Jezebel. By the ceremonial law, all the dog kind were 
unclean. (Deut. xxiii. 18.) 

To compare a person to a dog, living or dead, was a most 
degrading expression. So David uses it. " After whom 
is the king of Israel come out? after a dead dog!" (1 Sam. 
xxiv. 14.) The name of dog is sometimes applied to one who 
has lost all modesty, and prostitutes himself to vile actions, 
and also, to greedy, voracious, and sordid persons. 




Dove. The dove includes all the birds of the pigeon kind. 
There are several varieties, as the common pigeon, the ring 
dove, turtle dove, wood pigeon, &c. All doves were, by the 
law, legally clean, and pigeons and turtle doves were the ap- 
pointed offerings of the poor. (Lev. i. 14. xiv. 6-8.) 

As it was difficult for all those who came from a distance 
to bring doves with them, the priests permitted the sale of 
these birds in the courts of the temple. Our Lord, one day, 
entered the temple, and with a scourge of rods, drove out 
those who traded in doves. 

The dove is used as a symbol of simplicity and innocence. 
(Math. iii. 16. x. 16. Hos. vii. 11.) Noah sent the dove out 
of the ark to discover whether the waters were abated, and 
she returned bearing an olive branch in her mouth. (Gen. 
viii. 8. 10.) 

Dragon. This word frequently occurs in the English Bi- 
ble, but there is much difficulty in ascertaining the precise 
animal referred to, as the same original word is elsewhere 
rendered serpents, sea-monsters, or whales. The animal now 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 23 

called a dragon, by naturalists, is a harmless sort .of lizard; 
but it is evident that this cannot be the animal intended in 
the Scriptures, as it is generally referred to as possessing great 
strength and venom. It is most probable that the large ser- 
pent called the boa constrictor, which is the largest of the 
serpent tribe, and which, it is affirmed, is sometimes found in 
the hot countries of the East, fifty feet in length, is that which 
is intended by the sacred writers. The dragon is mentioned 
as an emblem of desolation, and to fortel that a city should be- 
come the habitation of dragons, was equivalent to devoting it 
to utter destruction. (Isa. xiii. 22. xxxiv. 13. Jer. ix. 11.) Sa- 
tan is called a dragon because of his power, practice, and 
hurtfulness. (Rev. xx. 2.) And the heathen empire of Rome 
is likened to a great red dragon, because it, in a cruel manner, 
wasted the nations, and persecuted the church. 

Dromedary. See Camel. 

Eagle. There are several varieties 
of eagles, as the golden eagle, the os- 
prey, or sea eagle, the bald eagle, and 
some others. 

Of all the varieties, the golden eagle 
is the largest, and when full grown, 
measures eight feet and a half from the 
tip of one wing to the, tip of the other. 
Its bill is three inches long, of a deep 
blue colour, and the eye of a brilliant hazel colour. The sight 
and sense of smelling are very acute. The head and neck are 
covered with sharp pointed feathers, of a deep brown colour; 
but those on the crown of the head, in very old birds, turn 
grey. The whole body, above as well as beneath* is of a 
dark brown, and the feathers of the back are finely clouded 
with a deeper shade of the same. 

Of all birds, the eagle flies the highest. When M. Ray- 
mond ascended Mount Perdu, in the Pyrenees, nearly three 
miles above the level of the sea, he saw an eagle, far above 
him, flying rapidly against a strong gale. Of all birds, also, 
the eagle has the quickest eye; but his sense of smelling is 
far inferior to that of the vulture. Though his wing is very 
powerful, yet, as he has but little suppleness in the joints of 
his legs, he finds it difficult to rise from the ground, when 
down; however, if not instantly pursued, he finds no diffi- 
culty in carrying off geese., hares, lambs, and kids. 







24 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

An instance is recorded, in Scotland, of two children being 
carried off by eagles, but fortunately, they received no hurt 
by the way, and being instantly pursued, the children were 
restored, unhurt, out of the nests, to their affrighted parents. 

The eagle is said to live to a great age, and, like other birds, 
sheds his feathers in the beginning of spring. After this, he 
appears with fresh strength and vigour, and his old age as- 
sumes the appearance of youth. To this David alludes when 
he says, " so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." (Ps. 
ciii. 5. Also, Is. xl. 31.) The eagle is usually referred to as 
an emblem of swiftness, cruelty, and oppression. 

Fallow Deer. An animal of the stag kind. See Deer. 

Ferret. A small four-footed animal of the weasel kind, and 
in size between a pole-cat and a weasel. It was originally a 
native of Africa, but is now common in many other countries. 
Its upper teeth are straight, distinct, and short, and the lower, 
obtuse and clustered. It is used for taking rabbits, which it 
follows into their burrows in the ground. Under the law it 
was an unclean animal. (Lev. xi. 30.) 

Flea. A well known insect, troublesome to a variety of 
animals, and of which, one kind is much given to haunt beds 
that are occupied in the summer season. David likens him- 
self to one, importing that it would cost Saul much trouble to 
take him, and he would obtain little profit by it. (1 Sam. xxiv. 
14.) 

Fly. A class of insects, some of which have two, and 
some four wings ; some have teeth and others not. Flies 
chiefly abound in moist and warm countries, and were one of 
the plagues of Egypt. (Exod. viii. 24.) 

Fox. An animal of the dog kind. 
Chiefly distinguished by its long and 
straight tail. It is a native of most 
countries, and is remarkable for its 
cunning, its winding motions, and 
rank smell. It cannot be tamed so 
as to become harmless, and is more 
fond of feeding on poultry, and other 
domestic animals, than on the wild. 
Foxes are very numerous in Palestine. The foxes caught by 




SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 25 

Sampson are, by some, thought to have been the jackal], 
which is still sometimes called the Eastern fox. Foxes are 
referred to in the Scriptures, as emblems of craft, mischief, 
and cruelty. (Judg. xv. 4. Luke, xii. 32.) 




Frog. This is a well known amphibious animal, which 
lives partly in the water, and partly on the land. It has a 
short body, and four legs, the hind ones very long, for leap- 
ing with. They delight in pools of stagnant water, and are 
much given to croaking. Sometimes, during wet weather, 
they wander a considerable distance from their usual place of 
abode. When they were sent as a plague to the Egyptians, 
they appeared in such numbers as to cover the whole land ; 
and after they were destroyed, were gathered together in 
heaps, and the whole country was affected by the putrifying 
smell. (Exod. viii. 5.) Frogs were unclean animals. (Lev, 
xi. 9.) 

Glede. An old name for the kite. See Hawk. 

Gnat. A very small, troublesome insect, which often 
flutters about lighted candles till it burns itself. Those who 
are very zealous about trifles, while they indulge themselves 
in things evidently and heinously sinful, are said to strain at 
a gnat and swallow a camel. (Mat. xxiii. 24.) 

Goat. The goat is an animal about the size of the sheep, 
which it greatly resembles in its external structure, and in its 
general habits. They have hollow horns, which stand erect, 
and lean a little backwards, and which they do not shed, which 
serve to distinguish them from animals of the deer kind. 
They have not wool, like the sheep, but long, shaggy hair. 
The beard grows very long. The species of the wild goat 
are very numerous ; they have generally larger horns than 
tame ones, and are remarkable for the facility with which 

C 



26 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY* 



they are able to climb precipices; they can run on the sidefc 
of rocks, and leap from one to another. 




Under the law, goats were classed amongst the clean ani- 
mals, and were used for offerings, and especially for sin-of- 
ferings. (Num. vii. 29.) The Greeks, who were likewise 
called Egeans, that is goatish people, are likened to a he-goat 
with one horn, that, without touching the earth, ran against, 
and trode down a pushing ram. Under Alexander, they, 
with incredible speed, marched into Asia and overthrew the 
Persian empire. (Dan. viii. 5.) Devils and wicked men are 
likened to goats; how vile, hurtful and disposed to climb in 
pride and self-conceit. (Lev. xvii. 3 Mat. xxv. 33.) 




Grasshopper. An insect of the locust kind, which it 
considerably resembles, but smaller. They are often abund- 
ant in meadows, and sometimes multitudes destroy the fruits 
of the earth. (Amos, vii. 1.) Some years ago, prodigious 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



27 



swarms of them destroyed, for several years in succession, 
the harvests in Languedoc, in France. Flocks of them co- 
vered the earth four or five inches deep. Grasshoppers, un- 
der the law, were clean. (Lev. xi. 22.) The grasshopper is 
said to be a burden to the aged man. (Eccl. xii. 5.) That is, 
the slightest thing, annoys, troubles, and vexes him^ They 
are often referred to as representing a great army, or multi- 
tude. (Judg. vi. 5. Jer. xlvi. 23.) 

Greyhound. A species of dog remarkable for beauty and 
lightness of motion. In Prov. xxx. 31, four animals are men- 
tioned as comely in going, and among them, according to our 
translation, one of those is the greyhound; but there is a great 
variety of opinion amongst critics, with respect to the animal 
intended. 




Hare. The hare is a well known animal, with a short tail, 
black eyes, double fore teeth, single under teeth, and no tusks. 
It has long ears, whereby it hears exceedingly well. It sleeps 
much, but always with its eyes open. Its feet are formed for 
swift running, especially up hill, as its hind legs are much 
longer than the fore ones. It is a very timorous animal, and 
multiplies exceedingly fast. It was unclean under the law, 
because, though it chewed the cud, it did not divide the hoof. 
(Lev. xi. 6. Deut. xiv. 7.) 

Hares live about seven or eight years, and in a natural state, 
pass their lives in solitude and silence, and are never known 
to exert their voice unless they are forcibly laid hold of, tor- 
mented, or wounded. 






Hart. The male of the 
hind. See Deer. 



stag is called hart, the female, 




28 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Hawk. The hawk is a bird of prey, 
of which there are many species ; as 
the falcon, goshawk, sparrow hawk. 
This bird has a short, strong, curved 
bill, notched at the point, eyes bright 
and piercing, thighs covered with long 
feathers, and crooked, strong claws. 
The colour is different, in the different 
species, and at different ages. The 
usual colour is brownish, and more or 

less striped with black and white. It lives upon small quad- 
rupeds, and birds, or fish, which its rapid flight, keen vision, 
great fierceness and courage, enables it to pursue with success. 
It builds its nest in lonely situations, either in the crevices of 
rocks, or in hollow trees. 

Amongst the Egyptians and some other ancient nations, 
the hawk was held in high veneration, and was even an ob- 
ject of religious worship. 

Amongst civilized nations, the art of falconry has been held 
in great estimation, and a person of rank hardly ever went 
abroad without his hawk on his hand. 

In the Bible, all the different species are thought to be in- 
cluded under the name of hawk, and it, as well as all the 
other birds of prey, was unclean by the Jewish law. (Lev. xi. 
16. Deut. xiv. 15.) 

Heifer. A young cow, so called until three years old. 
See Bull. 

Hen. The female of the poultry kind. See Cock. 

Heron. Of the heron there are a great many species, all 
differing in size, plumage, and figure, with talents adapted to 
their place of residence and peculiar pursuits, though they all 
possess the same general character of cowardice, rapacity, 
indolence, and insatiable hunger; and though in the midst of 
the greatest plenty, and constantly devouring, are ever found 
lean and almost destitute of flesh. Though scarcely weighing 
three pounds, it measures five feet from tip to tip of its wings. 
Its bill is five inches long, and sharp at the point. The mid- 
dle claw of each foot is notched, to assist in holding its prey. 
Its nest, which consists of sticks laid across, and lined with 
moss, grass, or some other soft substance, is generally built 
on a lofty tree, near the water. 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 29 

The heron lives on eels, fish, lizards, and such like articles 
of food, of which, especially in stormy weather, it finds it dif- 
ficult to obtain a sufficient supply. By the Jewish law, the 
heron was placed among the unclean birds. (Lev. xi. 19. 
Deut. xiv. 18.) 

Hind. The female of the stag. See Deer. 

Hornet. An insect of the wasp kind, and considerably 
larger than the bee. The hornet is very troublesome and mis- 
chievous, and the sting is attended with much pain and in- 
flammation. Great swarms of these plagued the Canaanites, 
in the days of Joshua. (Deut. vii. 20. Josh. xxiv. 12.) Elian 
tells us that the Phasaelites, who dwelt about the mountains of 
Solyma, were driven out of their native country by wasps. 
As these Phasaelites were Phoenicians, or Canaanites, it is pro- 
bable this event is the same as took place in the days of 
Joshua. 




Horse. This animal is one of the noblest of the brute cre- 
ation, and noted for his gracefulness, swiftness, docility, 
strength, and fitness for burden, draught, or war. (Job xxxix. 
19-25.) Among the people of the East, in ancient times, 
horses were reckoned a grand present, (Eccl. x. 7.) and some 
will now scarcely allow Europeans to ride on them in their ter- 
ritories, except on their becoming proselytes to the Mahometan 
faith. God prohibited the Hebrews from multiplying horses. 
He ordered Joshua to hough, hamstring, or cut the sinews of 
all the horses taken from the Canaanites, and to burn their 
chariots with fire, which direction was designed, no doubt, to 
prevent their correspondence with foreigners, or trusting, in 

C 2 



30 SCRIPTRUE NATURAL HISTORY* 

war, to their chariots or horsemen. (Deut. xvii. 16. Josh. xf. 
6.) In this manner David served the horses of Hadadezer, 
king of Syria. (2 Sam. viii. 4-5.) Solomon married the 
daughter of Pharaoh, and procured a fine breed of horses from 
Egypt. He, first of the Hebrews, contrary to the divine com- 
mand, began to multiply horses, and had four thousand stables, 
forty thousand stalls, and twelve thousand horsemen. (1 Kings, 
iv. 26. 2 Chron. ix. 25.) 

As the Eastern heathen, who worshipped the sun, imagined 
that he rode along the sky in a chariot, drawn by fleet horses, 
to communicate his light and warmth to mankind, they con- 
secrated to him the finest horses and chariots, and in these, 
they either rode to the eastern gate of the city, when the sun 
rose, or held them so sacred that none might ride on them. 
Josiah removed from the temple the horses, or images of 
horses, which his father or grandfather had consecrated to the 
sun. (2 Kings, xxiii. 11.) 

In the Scriptures, white horses denote the gospel; red 
horses represent cruel and bloody wars ; pale horses denote 
famine ; black horses may represent fearful judgments and 
death; and grizzled, speckled, or bay horses, mingled scenes 
of mercy and judgment. (Rev. vi. 2-3. xix. 11-14. Zech, 
vi. 2-3.) 

Horse Leech. The leech is a sort of worm which lives in 
the water, and they have the power of drawing blood from any 
animal to which they attach themselves. 

This animal is only mentioned in one place in the Bible, 
(Prov. xxx. 15.) where, on account of its thirst for blood, it is 
made the emblem of avarice and cruelty. 

" The horse leech hath two daughters crying, give, give," 
by which are probably meant the two evil dispositions of 
avarice and cruelty, as mentioned above. 

Kid. The young of the goat. See Goat. 

Kine. This word was formerly used for the plural of cow, 
and is found in several places in the Bible. See Bull. 

Kite. A bird of the hawk kind. See Hawk. 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 31 

Lapwing. Calmet thinks by the 
lapwing (Deut. xiv. 18. Lev. xi. 19.) 
is intended the bird now known by 
the name of the hoopoe, which is 
about the size of a thrush. Its beak 
is long, black, thin, and a little hook- 
ed. It has a tuft of feathers on its 
head, which it raises and lowers at 
pleasure. Its legs are grey and short, 
its neck and stomach of a reddish co- 
lour, and its wings and tail black, with white streaks. Its 
form is beautiful, but its voice is hoarse and unmusical. It 
generally builds its nest in old ruins^ and is mentioned among 
the unclean birds. 





Leopard. This formidable and sanguinary species of the 
cat tribe, is found nearly throughout the whole of Africa, and 
in Eastern and Southern Asia. He usually measures about 
three feet in length, exclusive of the tail, but sometimes 
reaches four feet. In rapacity, agility, and precision of mo- 
tion, he is unrivalled by any other animal, even of the cat 
species. His prey, on which he darts from his hiding places, 
and even pursues up trees, consists of antelopes, monkeys, and 
the smaller quadrupeds. He is well distinguished from all 
other animals of his race by the vividness of his colouring, 
and the beauty of his markings. These consist of numerous 
rows of rose-like spots, passing along his sides. His tail is 
equal in length to the body, exclusive of the head, and is 
marked by a continuation of the spots on its sides. 

In captivity, the leopard is sometimes brought to a consi- 
derable degree of tameness, but it is not very safe to trust him, 
as the innate treachery of his race is now and then unexpect- 
edly displayed. 



32 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 




Hunting with Leopards. 

In Persia, and some other countries in Asia, there is a kind 
of leopard called the chetah, which is used in hunting by the 
higher classes. He does not, however, follow the chase like 
the dog, but steals on his prey after the manner of the cat, 
and other animals of the tribe to which he belongs. 

The leopard is frequently referred to in the Scriptures, 
sometimes with reference to his patience in waiting for his 
prey; sometimes with reference to his swiftness, and at others, 
in reference to his fierceness and cruelty. (Isa. xi. 6. Hab. 
i. 8. Dan. viii. 6.) 




Leviathan. This word, in the original, occurs four times 
in the Old Testament, and is variously translated whale, dra- 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 33 

gon, serpent, and sea-monster, and perhaps not improperly, 
as all these may be intended, though one description of animal 
only, appears to be marked out in the book of Job, where the 
word, in our Bibles, is not translated. (Job. xli.) 

It was formerly supposed by commentators, that the whale 
was the animal described under the name of leviathan, but as 
the natural history of that animal became better known, it was 
apparent that the description could not, with any propriety, 
be applied to the whale, while Bochart and others showed that 
the description did apply, with great exactness, to the croco- 
dile ; and the identity of the leviathan and the crocodile is now 
generally admitted. 

The crocodile is the largest animal of the lizard kind, and 
grows to a great length; being sometimes found thirty feet 
long, from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail; its most 
usual length however, is eighteen feet. Like other ani- 
mals of the lizard kind, it has four legs, and feet bearing some 
resemblance to those of man. It is covered with a tough, 
scaly skin, which is very difficult to penetrate. The jaws 
seem to shut upon each other ; but contrary to the general 
opinion, the lower jaw alone is moveable, the upper one being 
immoveably fixed to the skull. The distance to which the 
jaws open, is about a foot and a half, so that it could easily 
take in the body of a man. 

They are seen, in some places, lying for whole hours and 
even days, stretched in the sun, and motionless, so that one 
not accustomed to them, might take them for trunks of trees, 
covered with rough and dry bark ; but the mistake would soon 
be fatal, if not prevented; for the torpid animal, at the near 
approach of any living thing, darts upon it, and instantly drags 
it into the water, and dives to the bottom. 

The strength of the crocodile is very great, and though not 
so powerful on land as in the water, yet it is very terrible, 
even there. Except pressed by hunger, or with a view of 
depositing its eggs, it seldom leaves the water. Its usual 
method is to float upon the surface, and seize upon whatever 
comes within its reach; but when this method fails, it then 
goes closer to the bank. Disappointed of its fishy prey, it 
there waits in patient expectation of some land animal, that 
may come to drink, the dog, the bull, the tiger, or man him- 
self. Striking the animal suddenly, with its tail, in a direc- 
tion towards its mouth, it is instantly caught by its ponderous 
jaws, and, dragging it into the water, the victim, if not already 
killed, is soon drowned. 



34 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

Desperate and bloody combats frequently occur between the 
crocodile and the tiger. All creatures of the cat kind are 
continually tormented with a parching thirst, which compels 
them to keep within the vicinity of rivers, to which they often 
resort to drink. It is on these occasions that they are seized 
by the crocodile, and they die not unrevenged. The instant 
the tiger is seized upon, he darts his claws, with great force, 
into the crocodile's eyes, while he plunges with his fierce an- 
tagonist into the river. There they continue to struggle for 
some time, but in the end, the tiger is generally drowned. 

The crocodile is a native of most warm climates, both in the 
old and new world. In the Nile, and other great rivers of 
Africa, he abounds, as well as in the rivers of Southern Asia, 
and the hot climates of America. In many countries, they 
are eaten by the savage inhabitants; but their flesh has a 
strong, musky odour, and is far from being palatable food. 

The king of Egypt is called a leviathan, (Ps. lxxiv. 14.) and 
satan himself is so denominated by the prophet Isaiah, who 
predicts his destruction and the downfall of his kingdom. (Isa. 
xxvii. 1.) 




Lion. This is the largest animal of the feline, or cat race. 
The largest lions are about eight or nine feet in length, from 
the snout to the insertion of the tail, which is, of itself, four 
feet long, and these large lions are four or five feet in height. 
In all her dimensions, the lioness is about one-third less than 
the lion. 

The lion is furnished with a mane, which becomes longer 
in proportion as he advances in age. The lioness, however, 
is without this appendage at every age, which causes so great 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



35 



a difference in her appearance, that at first view, she appears 
to belong to a different species. 

The lion, when hungry, boldly attacks all animals that come 
in his way ; but as they all seek to avoid him, he is often 
obliged to hide in order to take them by surprise. For this 
purpose, he crouches in some thicket, where, in patient ex- 
pectation, he waits the approach of his prey, until it comes 
within a proper distance, and he then springs after it with 
such force, that he often seizes it with a single bound. His 
teeth are so strong that he easily breaks the bones of an ani- 
mal, and swallows them as well as the flesh. He bears hun- 
ger for a long time, but is a very thirsty animal, drinking 
often, by lapping, after the manner of a dog. He generally 
lies quiet in the day time, and goes abroad at night, in search 
of food, as his sight, like all others of the cat tribe, is fitted for 
seeing best at night. 

The outward form of the lion seems to speak the superiority 
of his internal qualities, and his figure is striking, his look 
bold and confident, his gait proud and majestic, and his roar- 
ing terrible. His stature is not overgrown, like the elephant 
or rhinoceros, nor is the shape clumsy, like the hippopotamus, 
He is, in every respect, compact and well proportioned, and 
a perfect model of strength joined with agility. 




Hunting the Lion. 

Hunting the lion, in the countries where he abounds, is ge- 
nerally undertaken by parties of armed men, with dogs, who, 
when his retreat has been discovered, generally succeed in 



36 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

destroying him ; but it may readily be supposed that an at- 
tack on such an adversary, is not unattended by danger. 

Lions abounded not only in Lebanon, but also in the thick- 
ets of Jordan, and in other places in Canaan where there 
were woods. Sampson tore a lion to pieces with his hands, 
(Judg. xiv.) and David killed both a lion and a bear. (1 Sam. 
xvii. 34.) Daniel was cast into the den of lions, and was mi- 
raculously preserved from destruction. (Dan. vi. 27.) 

The lion is very frequently referred to in Scripture, and it 
is not surprising that an animal possessing such remarkable 
qualities, should have afforded frequent pccasion for suitable 
comparison, under many circumstances. His strength, cou- 
rage, and power to conquer, however, are the qualities more 
frequently referred to, and it is in these respects, that our Sa- 
viour is denominated the "Lion of the tribe of Judah." (Rev. 
y. 5.) 




Lizard. These are animals which live partly on the land, 
and partly in the water, or at least, in moist, damp places. 
Their body is oblong, and roundish, and they have four legs, 
and hinder parts terminating in a long and tapering tail. Li- 
zards are of many different kinds ; some very small, and others 
of great size, as the crocodile, which is the largest of the lizard 
kind, and though they all preserve a great similarity as it re- 
gards their shape and general conformation, no class of ani- 
mals differ so widely from each other in size and colour. Li- 
zards were unclean animals under the law. (Lev. xi. 30.) All 
the varieties of lizards are found, in great numbers, in Egypt, 
Palestine, Arabia, and in most other warm countries. 

Locust. This is an insect of the grasshopper species, 
which, in many respects, it closely resembles. The quantity 
of grass which a few grasshoppers, that sport in the fields, 
could destroy, is trifling; but when a swarm of locusts, two 
or three miles long, and several yards deep, settle on a field, 
the consequences are frightful. 

This insect is about three inches long, and has two horns, 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 37 

or feelers, an inch in length. The head and horns are of a 
brownish colour, and it is blue about the mouth, as also on the 
inside of the larger legs. The shield that covers the back is 
greenish, and the upper side of the body brown, spotted with 
black, and the under side purple. The upper wings are brown, 
with small dusky spots, with one larger at the tips, and under the 
wings they are more transparent, and of a light brown, tinctured 
with green; but there is a dark cloud of spots near the tips. 
There is no animal in creation which multiplies so 'fast as 
these, if the sun be warm, and the soil in which their eggs are 
deposited, be dry. 

The Scriptures having been written in a country where the 
locust made a distinguished figure in the picture of nature, 
have given us several striking images of this animal's num- 
bers and rapacity. They compare an army, where the num- 
bers are almost infinite, to a swarm of locusts. (Isa. xxxiii.^ 
4-5. Nah. iii. 15-17.) They describe them as rising out of the 
earth, where they are produced, as pursuing a settled march 
to destroy the fruits of the earth, and co-operate with divine 
indignation. 

When locusts take the field, we are assured they have a 
leader at their head, whose flight they observe, and pay strict 
attention to all his motions. They appear, at a distance, like 
a black cloud, which, as it approaches, gathers upon the ho- 
rizon, and almost hides the light of day. Wretched is the 
district upon which they settle. They ravage the meadow 
and the pasture ground, strip the trees of their leaves, and the 
garden of its beauty ; the visitation of a few minutes destroys 
the expectations of a year, and a famine but too frequently 
ensues. 

According to the Jewish law, the locust was a clean ani- 
mal, (Lev. xi. 22.) and might be used for food. The food of 
John the Baptist was locusts and wild honey. (Math. iii. 4.) 
They are still eaten by most Eastern nations, and among them 
are considered a delicacy, being boilded and eaten with salt, 
or dried in the sun. 

These dreadful insects, in prodigious numbers, formed the 
eighth plague of Egypt, and were, by a strong wind, driven 
away into the Red Sea. (Exod. x. 14-19.) 

Louse. A well known insect, with which most other ani- 
mals are infested, not excepting man himself, where proper 
attention is not paid to personal cleanliness. Swarms of lice 

D 



38 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

were one of the plagues of Egypt ; nor could the magicians 
produce any. (Exod. viii. 16-19.) 

Mole. This animal, without being blind, has such small 
eyes, and these so concealed, that at first view, it might be 
supposed, as formerly, that it was altogether destitute of the 
sense of vision} but it is now ascertained that it possesses the 
power of seeing in a degree well suited to its habitation, and 
the kind of life which it leads. Its skin is as soft as silk, and 
its little paws, which are furnished with five claws, are almost 
like the hands of a human being. Its strength, for its size, is 
very great, and it possesses the mild habitudes of repose and 
confidence. As these animals very seldom come above 
ground^ they have few enemies, and, were it not that they 
are often destroyed by an inundation of the low grounds, 
where they usually fix their habitations, they would soon be 
multiplied to a very injurious extent. It feeds on roots, 
worms, and insects. It always skins a worm before eating it, 
and in this operation, displays an exquisite degree of skill. 

By the Jewish law, the mole was classed among the unclean 
animals. To cast idols to the moles and the bats, is to aban- 
don their worship, and to throw them away with contempt 
and neglect. (Isa. ii. 20.) 

Moth. An insect of the butterfly kind, which, like that 
insect, is produced from the caterpillar, and differs chiefly in 
its going abroad by night, instead of going abroad by day. 
See Butterfly. 

Secret curses, or judgments, that insensibly consume, are 
likened to a moth. (Isa. 1. 9. Ii. 8.) The wicked man build- 
eth his house as a moth — he builds it with anxious care. (Job, 
xxvii. 18.) Man's beauty, glory, and wealth, waste like a 
moth, are secretly, insensibly, but certainly consumed. (Ps. 
xxxix. 11.) 

Mouse. This is a well known, ^^HP^s. 

four-footed little animal, whose fore- jj|l|gH B|k 

teeth are sharp, its feet divided, and $Jp§% HL 

its ears and tail naked of hair. Un- ^^^^B^H Ifl 

der the Mosaic law, (Lev. xi. 29.) ^^^^^i^^g SSL 

they were declared unclean; but they ^r. , ^jrogwFjMifl 

were used as food by the ancient Ro- S^^y ' " " >T 
mans. In some parts of Palestine, N «aS» 
they were so plentiful, that had it not 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 39 

been for the birds which devoured them, they had destroyed 
the whole seed or crop of corn; and it seems they had exceed- 
ingly injured the Philistine's crop, that year in which the 
ark of God was a captive in the country. (1 Sam. vi. 5.) By 
some, it is thought that the jerboa, or jumping moose, which 
also abounds in that country, was the animal referred to. 

Mule. This is a mongrel animal, of a mixed kind, be- 
tween the horse and the ass. The Jewish law prohibited 
every attempt to confound the species of animals, and yet if" 
is certain that there were plenty of mules in the time of David, 
as he and his sons rode on them, and they appear to have been 
held in great esteem. (2 Sam. xiii. 29. xviii. 9.) Solomon 
rode upon one at his coronation, and procured a considerable 
number of them. (1 Kings, i. 33. x. 25.) The Persians used 
them for their posts to ride on. (Esth. viii. 10.) They are 
still much used in various countries, where the ways are moun- 
tainous and rocky. Great numbers of them are kept about 
the Alps, on the north of Italy, and about the Pyrenean moun- 
tains, between France and Spain. These mules are black, 
well limbed, and fifteen or sixteen hands high. They are 
much stronger, hardier, and more sure of foot than the horse, 
and will live and work to double his age. 

Night Hawk. The night hawk is mentioned amongst 
the list of unclean birds. (Lev. xi. 16. Deut. xiv. 15.) The 
bird usually called by that name amongst us, has no relation 
to the hawk in its manners and habits, though it somewhat 
resembles a small hawk in appearance. Its habits are those 
of the swallow tribe, except that it flies abroad at the approach 
of night, and seldom during the day. It is probable that a 
species of owl is the bird referred to in this place. 

Ospray. The sea eagle, or fish hawk, mentioned (Lev, 
xi. 13.) See Eagle. 

Ossipage. This is also thought to be a bird of the eagle 
kind. (Lev. xi. 13.) See Eagle. 

Ostrich. This bird has furnished the sacred writers with 
some of their most beautiful imagery, and its flesh was, even 
previous to the days of Moses, apparently a common article of 
food, as we find it interdicted, amongst other unclean animals, 
by the Jewish legislator. 



40 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

The ostrich is considered to be the largest of birds, and the 
connecting link between quadrupeds and fowls. Its head and 
bill somewhat resemble those of a duck, and the neck may be 
compared to that of a swan, but that it is much longer; the 
legs and thighs resemble those of a hen, but are very fleshy 
and large. The end of the foot is cloven, and has two very 
large toes, which, like the leg, are covered with scales. These 
toes are of unequal sizes; the largest of which is on the in- 
side, being seven inches long, including the claw. The height 
of the ostrich is usually seven feet from the head to the ground, 
but from the back it is only four, so that the head and neck 
are above three feet long. From the head to the end of the 
tail, when the neck is stretched in a right line, it is seven feet 
long. One of the wings, with the feathers stretched out, is 
three feet long. The plumage is generally white and black, 
though some of them are said to be grey. There are no fea- 
thers on the sides of the thighs, or under the wings. At the 
end of each wing, there is a kind of spur, resembling the quill 
of a porcupine, about an inch long, and about a foot lower 
down, another, though smaller. 




The ostrich has not, like most other birds, feathers of dif- 
ferent kinds; they are all bearded with detached hairs, 
or filaments, without resistance or reciprocal adherence. 
They cannot, therefore, be of any utility in flying, or di- 
recting the flight. Besides the peculiar structure of her 
wings, the ostrich is rendered incapable of flight by her enor- 
mous size, weighing seventy-five or eighty pounds, a weight 
which would require an immense power of wing to elevate in 
the air. 

Sly and timorous, in no common degree, the ostrich retires 
from the cultivated field, where it is disturbed by the Arabian 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 41 

shepherds and husbandmen, into the deepest recesses of the Sa- 
hara. In these dreary wastes it is reduced to subsist on a few- 
tufts of coarse grass, which here and there languish on their 
surface, or a few other solitary plants, equally destitute of 
nourishment, and in the Psalmist's phrase, even " withered 
before they are grown up." To this dry and parched food 
may perhaps be added, the great variety of land snails, which 
occasionally cover these plants. Nor is it improbable that 
she sometimes devours lizards and snakes, for in fact, no 
kind of food appears to come amiss, how coarse and indiges- 
tible soever it may appear. Still, considering the voracity 
and size of this camel bird, as it is called in the East, it is 
surprising how it is able to obtain a sufficient supply of food. 

When the ostrich is provoked, it sometimes makes a fierce, 
angry, and hissing noise, with her throat inflated, and her 
mouth open, and sometimes it cackles, like a hen. But in 
the silent hours of the night, it assumes quite a different tone, 
and makes a very doleful and hideous noise, which sometimes 
resembles the roaring of a lion, and sometimes the bull, or the 
ox. It frequently groans, as if it were in the greatest ago- 
nies, to which the prophet beautifully alludes, " I will make 
a mourning like the ostriches," or owls, as our version reads. 
(Micah, i. 8.) 

The ostrich lays very large eggs; some of them are above 
five inches in diameter, and weigh fifteen pounds. It has 
been commonly reported that the female deposits them in the 
sand, and then covering them up, leaves them to be hatched 
by the heat of the climate, and then permits the young to shift 
for themselves. Very little of this, however, is true ; no bird 
has a stronger affection for her young than the ostrich, and 
none watches her eggs with greater assiduity, though, in 
those hot climates, there is less necessity for continued incu- 
bation during the day, but at night she uniformly returns, to 
prevent the eggs from being chilled by the evening air. The 
young ones cannot walk for several days after their exclusion 
from the shell, during which time, the old ones attend them, 
and supply them with food very carefully. 

The ostrich inhabits only the deserts of Africa and Asia, 
and from its frequenting the more solitary and deserted places, 
it is, in several places in Scripture, made an emblem of soli- 
tude and desolation. (Job. xxx 29. Isa. xiii. 21. xxxiv. 13. 
Jer. i. 39.) In these texts, our translation reads owls ; but it 
is believed by learned men generally, that they should have 
been rendered ostriches. 

In the book of Job (ch. xxxix. 13-18) this bird is referred 
D2 



42 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



to, and some of her peculiarities described. It has been said 
that the ostrich is a very timid bird, and easily frightened from 
her nest by the approach of an enemy, and the expression, 
therefore, " She leaveth her eggs in the sand, and warmeth 
them in the dust, and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, 
or that the wild beast may break them," refers, first, to her 
leaving her eggs during the day, to the sun's warmth, volun- 
tarily ; and in the second place, to her leaving her nest at the 
approach of an enemy, without any resistance, contrary to the 
habits of most other birds. 




Hunting the Ostrich. 

Their nests are large, and made upon the ground, in ex- 
posed situations, and it is affirmed that several females de- 
posit their eggs in the same nest. In verse sixteenth, there 
is an expression which would seem to imply a want of natu- 
ral affection for her young. " She is hardened against her 
young ones, as though they were not hers, her labour is in 
vain, without fear." When she is disturbed by danger, or 
wanders after food, leaving her young ones without fear or 
concern for them, it may be said that her labour in rearing 
them so far, is in vain. 

Her great swiftness is referred to — " What time she lifteth 
up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider." It 
is affirmed that the ostrich is able to leave the fleetest horses 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



43 



far behind, and did she run in a straight line, could not be 
taken ; but as she runs in circles, the horseman, by taking the 
shortest course, is able, finally, to overtake her. When ex- 
hausted, she hides her head, and foolishly supposes, that by 
doing so, she is hid from her pursuers. 




Owl. All birds of the owl kind, have one common mark 
by which they are distinguished from others. Their eyes, 
like those of the cat tribe, are formed for seeing better in the 
dusk than in the broad glare of the sunshine, so that it lies 
quiet in its retreat, of some old ruin, or hollow tree, during the 
day, and on the approach of evening, ventures out in quest of 
food. The nights when the moon shines, are the times of 
their most successful plunder; for when it is wholly dark, 
they are the less qualified to pursue the animals on which 
they prey. 

Birds of the owl kind may be divided into two sorts; those 
which have horns, and those which have not. These horns 
are nothing more than two or three feathers, that stand up on 
each side of the head, over the ear, and give this animal a kind 



44 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

of horned appearance. There are a great many species of the 
owl, but they differ little, except in size and colour, from each 
other, and in their habits and manners, the whole tribe are 
almost exactly alike. The large horned owl, is almost as large 
as the eagle, while some of the smaller kinds are not larger 
than a pigeon. 

The note, or hooting of the owl, which is usually heard 
about the time he comes from his hiding place, is singularly 
prolonged and doleful, and fills many persons with a super- 
stitious dread. 

Amongst the ancients, the owl was the emblem of wisdom, 
and was consecrated to Minerva; for which reason, it was 
held in high honour by the Athenians, who represented it on 
their medals. No such honour, however, is bestowed on it 
in the Scriptures. In the Jewish law, it is found amongst the 
unclean birds, (Lev. xi. 17. Deut. xiv. 15.) and is used as an 
emblem of desolation. "When Isaiah speaks of Babylon as re- 
duced to a wilderness, he says, the owls shall answer one ano- 
ther there. (Isa. xiii. 21.) And the Psalmist says, that in his 
affliction he was as the owl, sitting alone in the house top. 
(Ps. cii. 6.) 

Ox. A. general name for a well known domestic animal, 
meaning, more strictly, one which is used for the plough or 
draught. The ox is almost always referred to, in the Scrip- 
tures, as an emblem of patience and labour. See Bull. 

Partridge. This bird is of the 
poultry kind, and there are more than 
twenty species known, though they 
may be all arranged under two divi- 
sions, the grey and the red. The red 
is the larger, and often perches on j 
trees ; the grey always keeps on the 
ground. 

This bird is about thirteen inches in length, the plumage 
brown and ash colour, beautifully mixed with black. The 
tail is short, the legs of a greenish white, and the bill is of a 
light brown. 

The partridge seems to be a bird well known all over the 
world, as it is found, as well in the frozen regions about the 
pole, as in the torrid tracts, under the equator. It even seems 
to adapt itself to the nature of the climate where it resides. 
In Greenland, the partridge which is brown in summer, as the 







SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 45 

winter begins to set in, like most other animals and birds of 
those regions, becomes white, and continues to wear the livery- 
suitable to the snows with which it is surrounded, till the re- 
turn of spring. 

In manners and habits, the partridge nearly resembles the 
other poultry kind ; but its cunning and instinct seem supe- 
rior to the larger birds of that race. 

This bird is twice mentioned in the Scriptures. The first 
occurs in the history of David, (1 Sam. xvi. 20.) where he ex- 
postulates with Saul concerning his unjust and foolish pur- 
suit. " The king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when 
one doth hunt a partridge on the mountains." The other pas- 
sage is, " As the partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them 
not, so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave 
them in the midst of his days." (Jer. xvii. 11.) It is said 
that the partridge, finding the nest of some other bird, will 
take possession of it, and sit on the eggs till the real owner 
of the nest comes and drives her away, and it is to this pe- 
culiarity that the above text is supposed to refer. 




Peacock. To describe, in adequate terms, the dazzling 
beauties of this elegant bird, would be a task of no small diffi- 
culty. His head is adorned with a tuft, consisting of twenty- 
four feathers, painted with the most exquisite green, mixed 
with gold. The head, throat, neck, and breast, are of a deep 
blue, glossed with green and gold; but the distinguishing 
character of this singular bird is its train, which, when erected, 
forms a fan of the most resplendent hues. The voice is very 
hoarse and disagreeable, and its feet by no means in corres- 
pondence with the beauty of its plumage. 

The peacock has, in some countries, been esteemed an ar~ 



46 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

tide of luxury; but whatever there may be of delicacy in the 
flesh of a. young peacock, it is certain an old one is very in- 
different eating. Peacocks were highly esteemed among the 
Romans, and they are mentioned (1 Kings, x. 22.) as among 
Solomon's importations from the East. Our peacocks were 
also brought from the East Indies, and we are assured that 
there q,re still vast flocks of them, in a wild state, in the islands 
of Java and Ceylon. 

Pelican. This bird is much larger than the swan, and 
somewhat resembles it in shape and colour, and that which 
distinguishes it from all other birds, is its enormous bill, and 
extraordinary pouch. From the point of the bill to the open- 
ing of the mouth, there is the distance of fifteen inches, and 
under the lower chop is a bag, reaching the entire length of 
the bill to the neck. When empty, this bag or pouch con- 
tracts, so as scarcely to be perceived; but when filled, its 
great bulk and singular appearance, may easily be conceived. 
This bag, it is said, is capable of holding fifteen quarts of 
water. Tetre affirms that this pouch will hold as many fish, 
as will serve sixty hungry men for a meal. Such is the for- 
mation of this extraordinary bird, which is a native of Africa 
and America. The pelican is a torpid, inactive bird, and 
nothing can exceed its indolence but its gluttony. It is only 
from the stimulations of hunger that they are excited to la- 
bour ; otherwise they would always remain in a state of fixed 
repose. Their lives are spent between sleeping and eating, 
and they are as foul as they are voracious. 

It was once believed that the pelican fed her young with 
her own blood. The fact is, that the parent bird feeds its 
young by pressing its full pouch against its breast, and thus 
expelling a portion of the contents. The appearance of the 
bird, in this attitude, with the blood red spot at the end of its 
bill, closely pressed against its breast, may readily account for 
the prevalence of such an idea, in the minds of superficial 
observers. 

The pelican, being a solitary and torpid bird, is used as an 
emblem of desolation. It was unclean under the law. (Lev. 
xi. 18. Deut. xiv. 17.) David, in his distress, was like a pe- 
lican of the wilderness; that is, in a very lonely and mourn- 
ful condition. (Ps. cii. 6.) 

Pigeon. In accordance with the ceremonial law, any per- 
son who was too poor to afford a lamb for an offering, was 







SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 47 

permitted to bring two turtle doves, or two young pigeons. 
(Lev. v. 7. xii. 8.) As this was the offering made by the pa- 
rents of our Lord, (Luke, ii. 24.J it was an evidence of their 
poverty. See Dove. 

Quail. This bird bears a great re- 
semblance to the partridge in appear- 
ance, except that it is net more than 
half the size. Its flesh, is a great deli- 
cacy. The feathers of the head are 
black, edged with a rusty brown ; the 
breast is of a pale yellowish red, spotted 
with black ; the feathers on the back are 
marked with lines of pale yellow, and the legs are of a pale 
hue. 

The oriental quail is a bird of passage. Hasselquist says 
it is plentiful near the shores of the Red Sea and the Jordan, 
and in the deserts of Arabia; and Diodorus asserts that it is 
caught, in immense numbers, about Rhinocolura, countries 
through which the Israelites passed on their way to the pro- 
mised land. 

On two occasions, the murmuring Hebrews were supplied 
with quails, and on each occasion, the event is distinctly re- 
ferred to the miraculous interposition of God. (Exod. xvi. 12, 
13. Numb. xi. 31.) On the first occasion, they were scattered 
about the camp, only for a single day ; on the second, they 
continued for the space of an entire month. 

Ram. The male of the sheep kind. See Sheep. 

Raven. This bird is about two feet in length, and four 
feet between the tips of the wings. The blackness of the 
raven is proverbial. (Cant. v. 11.) He is strong and hardy, and 
is found in every region of the globe. Cold and hot climates 
are alike indifferent to him, and he is equally active in both. 
The raven may be trained up to almost any purpose, for which 
birds of prey may be used. % He may be taught the art of 
fowling, like the hawk ; to fetch and carry, like a spaniel, and 
to talk, like the parrot, and also to sing. In his tame state, 
he is very amusing, but is a mischievous and pilfering bird. 

Under the law, the raven was classed among the unclean 
birds. (Lev. xi. 15.) When Noah sent the raven out of the 
ark to see if the waters were abated, it did not return to him. 
(Gen. viii. 6, 7.) When the prophet Elijah retired, by the 




48 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

direction of God, near the brook Cherith, he was fed for some 
time by ravens, who brought him bread and flesh, morning 
and evening. (1 Kings, xvii. 6.) 

Roe. It is thought that the Hebrew word, translated roe, 
in our Bibles, is the gazelle, or antelope. See Deer. 

Satyrs. Wild men, or imaginary animals, half man and 
half goat, poetically introduced by Isaiah, (xiii. 21. xxxiv. 14.) 
as dancing among the ruins of Babylon. It is remarkable, 
that the inhabitants of that country still believe in the exist- 
ence there, of satyrs. It is probable that the idea of the ex- 
istence of such an animal, may have been received from the 
ape, or as it is sometimes called, the wild man of the woods, 
or satyr. 




Scorpion. This is one of the largest of the insect tribe, 
and not less terrible from its size than its malignity. It bears 
a close resemblance to a lobster in shape, but is much more 
hideous in appearance. There are several kinds of scorpions, 
differing in size and colour. 

There are four principal parts in the scorpion; the head, 
the breast, the belly, and the tail. The head seems as if it 
were joined to the breast, in the middle of which are seen 
two eyes, and a little more forward, two eyes more, placed in 
the fore part of the head ; these eyes are so small that they 
are scarcely perceptible, and it is probable that this animal has 
little occasion for seeing. The mouth is furnished with two 
jaws, with which it breaks its food, and thrusts it into its 
mouth. On each side of the head are two arms, each com- 
posed of four joints, like the claws of a lobster. Besides these 
arms it has eight legs, four on each side. The body is divided 
into seven little rings, from the lowest of which is continued 
a tail, composed of six joints, the last being armed with a 
crooked sting. This sting is the instrument which renders 



SCRIPTURE .NATURAL HISTORY. 49 

the insect so formidable, and with which it inflicts a poison- 
ous, and often fatal wound. The scorpion found in the south- 
ern countries of Europe, is about four inches long; but in the 
tropical climates of the East, it is often found twelve inches 
in length. 

Scorpions are mentioned as amongst the dangers of the 
Israelites, in the wilderness. (Deut. viii. 15.) This animal is 
always mentioned in the Scriptures, as an emblem of venom 
and malignity. (Ezek. ii. 6. Luke, xi. 11, 12. x. 19. Rev. 
ix. 3-10.) 




Serpent. The craft and subtlety of this class of animals, 
which includes a very numerous race, differing greatly from 
each other in size and malignity, are frequently dwelt on in 
the sacred writings, as qualities for which it is eminently dis- 
tinguished. Moses says it was more subtle than any beast of 
the field which the Lord had made (Gen. iii. 1.); and our 
Saviour refers to its wisdom, as affording a model for imita- 
tion to his disciples. (Math. x. 16.) 

Sheep. In its present domestic state, the sheep is, of all 
animals, the most defenceless and inoffensive. With its li- 
berty, it appears to have been deprived of its swiftness and 
cunning. Without swiftness, it endeavours to fly, and with- 
out strength, sometimes makes a useless opposition. In its 
wild state, however, it is a hardy, active animal, and in every 
way fitted to defend itself, or escape from those dangers by 
which it is surrounded. 

In Syria, there are two kinds of sheep ; the one differing 
in no respect from those among us, except that their tails are 
somewhat longer and thicker; the other kind is that which has 
been so frequently mentioned by travellers, on account of the 
extraordinary size of the tail ; and this species is by far the 
most numerous. The tail of this kind of sheep is affirmed by 
travellers to weigh from fifteen to fifty pounds. 

In a domesticated state, the sheep, as already noticed, is a 
weak and defenceless animal, and dependent altogether on 

E 



50 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY* 



the care of man for its protection and support} but notwith- 
standing its imbecility, it is nevertheless prone to stray from 
the care of its keeper; and on this character of the sheep, al- 
most all the allusions to this animal, in the Scriptures, are 
founded. David confesses that he had imitated their foolish 
conduct. " I have gone astray like a lost sheep," and con- 
scious that he was disposed, like them, to wander still further 
from the fold, he adds, " seek thy servant." (Ps. cxix. 176.) 

The sheep-folds, among the Israelites, appear to have been 
generally houses, or enclosures, walled round, to guard the 
sheep from beasts of prey by night, and the scorching heat by 
day. To this kind of sheep-fold our Saviour, doubtless, refers. 
" He that entereth not by the door into the sheep-fold, but 
climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." 
(John, x. 1-41.) 



Sow. 
Boar, 



The female of the hog kind. (2 Peter, ii. 22.) See 



Sparrow. The Hebrew word translated sparrow, is also 
used for all sorts of clean birds, or those whose use was not for- 
bidden in the law, and especially for the smaller birds; and in 
most of the passages where a sparrow is mentioned, we may 
understand a bird of any kind. A very small kind of bird is 
no doubt understood, which was sold five for two farthings, or 
two for a farthing. (Math. x. 29. Luke, xii. 6.) To mark his 
afflicted and sorrowful condition, David compares himself to a 
sparrow alone upon the house top. (Ps. lxxxiv. 3.) 

Spider. A well known insect, remarkable for the thread 
which it spins, and with which it forms a web of curious tex- 
ture, but so frail, that it is exposed to be broken and destroyed 
by the slightest accident. To the slenderness of this filmy 
workmanship, Job compares the hope of the wicked, (viii. 14.) 
This comparison is so exquisite that nothing can be conceived 
which so fully describes the utter vanity of their hopes and 
prosperity. Isaiah says, also, " they weave the web of the spi- 
der, of their webs no garment shall be made, neither shall they 
cover themselves with their works." (lix. 5.) The greater 
number of commentators suppose the spider to be referred to 
by Solomon, when he says, she taketh hold with her hands; 
(Prov. xxx. 28.) but as the usual word for that insect is not 
used in the original, in this place, it has been by others, be- 
lieved to refer to the newt! a small kind of lizard. 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 51 

The natural history of the spider is exceedingly curious in 
all its details; but our limits forbid us from pursuing it further. 

Stork. This bird, is one of the crane kind, and has the 
long beak and legs which characterize that species. The most 
remarkable of the storks is the white one, the length of which 
is above three feet. The bill is nearly eight inches long, and 
of a fine red colour. The skin of the legs and bare part of the 
thighs, is also red. 

The white stork is semi-domestic, haunting towns and cities 
in many countries, and stalking about the streets unconcern- 
edly, from which they remove the filth, and clear the fields of 
serpents and reptiles. On this account they are protected in 
Holland, held in high veneration by the Mahometans, and 
so greatly were they respected, in times of old, by the Thes- 
salonians, that to kill one of these birds, was a crime expiable 
only by death. The ancients, indeed, describe it as a pattern 
of conjugal fidelity, and of filial and paternal piety. 

Moses places the stork amongst the unclean birds. (Lev. xi. 
19. Deut. xiv. 18.) The Psalmist says, (civ. 17. Jit's for the 
stork, the fir trees are her house. The low houses in Pales- 
tine did not afford so favourable a situation for the stork to 
build in, as the houses of Europe, and she, doubtless for that 
reason, resorted to the pine trees. Profane writers speak 
much of the piety of the stork, and of its gratitude to its pa- 
rents. 

Swallow. There are many species of the swallow; all of 
them have bills which are broad, small at the point, and 
slightly curved. The wings are long, and the tail forked, the 
legs short and slender. Their voice is a peculiar twittering 
noise, and they fly with great rapidity. 

The only mention of the swallow, in Scripture, is in Isaiah 
xxxviii. 14, and Jeremiah, viii. 7. Hezekiah, referring to his 
recent affliction, says, as a swallow, or a crane, so did I chat- 
ter. The note of swallows being quick and mournful, the 
allusion of the king is supposed to be to his prayers, which 
were so interrupted by groans, as to be like the quick twitter- 
ings of the swallow. The passage in Jeremiah refers to the 
well known migration of this bird, from which the prophet 
takes occasion to reprove the ingratitude of the favoured 
tribes. " The turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe 
the time of their coming, but my people know not the judgr 
ment of the Lord." 



52 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 




Swan. So much difference exists between this bird when 
on land and in the water, that it hardly appears like the same 
creature. 

When it ascends from the water, its favourite element, its 
motions are awkward, and its neck is stretched forward with 
an air of stupidity ; but when seen smoothly gliding along the 
water, displaying a thousand graceful attitudes, and moving, 
at pleasure, without the smallest apparent effort, there is not 
a more beautiful figure in all nature. It is able to swim faster 
than a man can walk. 

This beautiful bird is as delicate in its appetites, as it is 
elegant in its form. Its chief food is corn, herbs growing in 
the water, and roots and seeds which are found near the mar- 
gin. At the time of incubation, it prepares a nest, in some re- 
tired part of the bank, and chiefly where there is a small 
island in the stream. The swan lays seven or eight eggs, 
white, and much larger than that of the goose. A female has 
been known to attack and drown a fox, which was swimming 
towards her nest, and an old swan can break the leg of a man 
with his wing. The swan is a long lived bird, and sometimes 
attains the age of more than a hundred years. 

The wild, or whistling swan, though so strongly resembling 
the tame one in colour and form, yet differs considerably from 
it, especially in its internal structure. It is also less, by a 
fourth, in size; the tame swan weighing about twenty, and 
the wild about fifteen pounds. The wild species is found in 
most of the northern regions, in America, and probably in the 
East Indies. The tame swan makes no noise, except a hiss ; 
the wild one has a sharp, loud cry, particularly while flying. 
The song, ascribed to this bird, when dying, by the ancients, 
is a mere fable. The colour of the tame swan, is all over 



- 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 53 

white j the wild one, along the back, and tips of the winir in- 
clines to an ash colour. ^ 5 

The black swan, of New Holland, that country of animal 
wonders, presents us with a bird, which the ancients imagined 
could not possibly have an existence. The black swan is ex- 
actly similar in its form to the same bird found in other 
countries, but is somewhat less in size. Every part of the 
plumage is perfectly black, except a few of the longest quill 
teatners, which are white. The bill is bright-red, and the 
legs and feet ash coloured. They are extremely shy, and 
when disturbed, fly off, one after another, like wild geese. 

The swan is amongst the birds declared unclean, by the 
Levitical law, and is only twice mentioned in the Bible, (Lev. 
xi. 18. Deut. xiv. 16.) and some authors have doubted whether 
this bird is that really intended by the word so translated. 

Swine. This word was formerly used in the singular, as 
well as the plural number, but it is now generally used 'for 
hogs, in the plural. See Boar. 

Tortoise. Tortoises are usually divided into those which 
live upon land, and those that live in the water ; and use has 
made a distinction in the name, the one being called tortoises, 
and the other turtles. It has been proved, however, that they 
are all able to live in either element, and upon examination, 
there will be less variety found among them, than amongst 
birds that live upon land, and those that swim in the water. 

All tortoises, in their external form, much resemble each 
other, their outward covering being composed of two great 
shells, the one laid upon the other, and only touching at the 
edges. There are two holes at either edge of this vaulted 
body, one for a very small head, shoulders, and arms to peep 
through, the other at the opposite edge, for the feet and the 
tail. These shells the animal is never disengaged from, and 
they serve for its defence against every creature, except man. 
When alarmed, it draws in its feet and head, and closes the 
shell, in such a manner, as to afford it complete protection. 
It has no teeth, but its mouth is armed with a hard, bony rim. 
Its tail is strong and scaly, like the lizard. 

The land tortoise is a long lived animal, and with respect 
to injuries, may be considered as almost endowed with im- 
mortality. The loss of a limb is a trifling matter, and it seems 
as though nothing could kill it. It will live with its brain 
taken out, and even with its head cut off. They have fre- 

E 2 



54 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



quently been known to live for eighty years, and sometimes 
more than a hundred. 




The sea tortoise, or turtle, as it is usually called, is much 
larger than the land tortoise. The great Mediterranean tur- 
tle is the largest of the kind. It is found from five to eight 
feet long, and from six to nine hundred pounds weight} but 
these £re a formidable and useless kind compared with those 
of the South Seas. They are of different kinds, not only 
unlike each other in form, but furnishing man with different 
advantages. The imbricated turtle supplies the tortoise shell 
which is so extensively used, and the green turtle is not less 
noted for the delicacy and nutritive qualities of its flesh. This 
last kind is generally found to weigh about two hundred weight, 
though some are found much larger. Dampier mentions one 
so large, that a boy of ten years of age. the son of captain 
Rock, used the shell as a boat, and went from the shore in it, 
to his father's ship. Both the land and sea tortoise feed 
chiefly on vegetable substances. 

The tortoise is classed amongst reptiles, is a cold blooded 
animal, and is mentioned as unclean in the ceremonial law. 
(Lev. xi. 29.) Some learned men, however, think a kind of 
lizard is intended. If the tortoise was the animal referred to, 
it was no doubt the land tortoise. 

Unicorn. Much difference of opinion has existed among 
learned men, as to the animal referred toby the original word, 
by our translators rendered unicorn. Did the original word, 




SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 55 

in itself, denote, as in our translation, an animal having only 
one horn, much of this uncertainty would cease ; but as this 
is not the case, it affords a much wider scope than, otherwise 
would exist, for the exercise of the imagination of biblical 
critics. 

The first allusion to this animal, is in the reply of Bilaam 
to Balak, when importuned by the terrified king to cufse the 
invading armies of Israel— " God brought them out of Egypt,' 
he hath, as it Were, the strength of an unicorn." (Numb, xxiii. 
22. xxiv. 8.) From this it is evident that the animal was con- 
sidered as possessing considerable power. Isaiah associates 
him with other powerful animals, to symbolize the leaders and 
princes of the hostile nations, that were destined to invade his 
country. " And the unicorns shall come down with them, 
and the bullocks with the bulls." (Isa. xxxiv. 7.) From the 
book of Job, we learn that he was not only an animal of con- 
siderable strength, but also possessed of a very intractable dis- 
position. " Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or 
abide by thy crib?" (Job, xxxix. 9-12.) This animal is also 
referred to in two or three other passages in the Scriptures, 
but without any very particular allusion to its manners or 
habits. (Deut. xxxiii. 17. Ps. xxii. 21. xxix. 6.) From these 
passages, chiefly, we are to form our opinion with respect to 
the animal intended by the sacred writers. 

The name of unicorn, was anciently given to an animal de- 
scribed as having legs like the deer, the head, mane and tail 
like the horse, and in the middle of its forehead, a single horn, 
from which it took its name. Whether such an animal now 
exists, or ever did exist, has been doubted. Most learned 
men have considered the existence of such an animal, as alto- 
gether fabulous, and have, consequently, endeavoured to find, 
amongst those animals whose existence and character are well 
determined, one, whose description best corresponds with that 
referred to in the Scriptures, and the two which have princi- 
pally divided the opinions of learned men are, the rhinoceros, 
and wild buffalo. 

Those writers who prefer the rhinoceros, as the representa- 
tive of the unicorn, depend on the name given in the trans- 
lations, as signifying an animal with only one horn, and as 
corresponding, in his character, with the description given of 
that animal. Those who prefer the wild buffalo as represent- 
ing the unicorn, deny that the original word has any reference 
to an animal with one horn, and they argue that the buffalo 
agrees, in character, with the scriptural account of the unicorn. 



66 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

It is objected, also, that though the rhinoceros in some coun- 
tries has only one horn, yet in those parts where the animal 
is found nearest to Palestine, it has two horns, and those not 
as the unicorn. is described, having the horn projecting from 
the forehead, but one above the other on the snout. The ob- 
jections against those who advocate the wild buffalo as the 
animal intended, arise from his having two horns ; and though 
acknowledged to be exceedingly fierce, not fully meeting the 
description of the animal under consideration. 

The great diversity of opinion which has prevailed amongst 
learned men as to the animal, affords a strong ground for in- 
ference, that neither of them was intended ; on the contrary, 
we believe quite as strong, or even stronger testimony can be 
produced in favour of the existence of an animal, formerly 
and at the present time, which is no doubt the true represen- 
tation of the unicorn described by the ancients. 

Niebuhr, the celebrated traveller, relates, that in the ruins of 
Persepolis, he found, on almost every staircase, the figure of 
a unicorn depicted in various attitudes; and Pliny, in speak- 
ing of the wild beasts of India, says, with respect to this ani- 
mal— ■" The unicorn is an exceeding fierce animal, resembling 
a horse as to the rest of its body, but having the head like a 
stag, the feet like an elephant, and the tail like a wild boar; 
its roaring is loud, and it has a black horn of about two cubits 
projecting from the middle of the forehead." These seem to 
be the chief ancient testimony in relation to this animal. 

In more recent times, we have further traces of this animal 
in Southern Africa, and also in Central Asia, in both of which 
places it has been asserted, on authority which appears to be 
altogether worthy of confidence, that it has been seen; and 
when we consider that the giraffe or cameleopard has only a 
short time since been rediscovered,- after having been known 
to the ancients, and long considered fabulous by the moderns, 
and that a large part of Africa and Central Asia is still en- 
tirely unexplored by Europeans, it is by no means improbable 
that the unicorn now exists in those remote regions, and that 
it will ere long be rediscovered, and its existence placed be- 
yond a doubt. 

The gnu, or horned horse, which has been, within a short 
time since, brought from the Cape of Good Hope, possesses 
characteristics quite as extraordinary as those which have 
been assigned to the unicorn; and if it possessed one straight 
instead of two crooked horns, would bear a strong resem- 
blance to the description of that animal. 




SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 57 

Viper. This is a kind of serpent, of which there are seve- 
ral species, all of which are venomous, and some of them pro- 
duce death in a short time. It is usually two or three feet in 
length, and is a slow moving kind of serpent. The poison is 
infused into the wound by a canal in the fangs, by which it is 
inflicted. 




Vulture. The first rank amongst birds of prey, has been 
assigned to the eagle, not because it is larger than the vulture, 
but because it is more noble and courageous, and possesses at 
least as great an inclination for war, as un appetite Tor prey. 
The vulture is deficient in all the more respectable qualities 
of the eagle, and only rivals it in size, strength, and rapacity. 

Vultures may readily be distinguished from all those of tin* 
eagle kind, by the nakedness of their heads and necks, which 
are without feathers, and only covered by a very slight down, 
or a few scattered hairs; the eyes are more prominent, tin* 
claws are shorter and less hooked, and the flight more dilli- 
cult and heavy. All the vulture tribe are cruel, uncleanly, 
and indolent. 

This bird is found in almost all the countries of the Eastern 
and Western continent. In Egypt, indeed, it seems to be of 
singular service. There are great flocks of them in the neigh- 
bourhood of Grand Cairo, which no person is permitted to 
destroy, because they devour all the carrion and filth, which 
has so great a tendency to corrupt and putrifjr the air. In 
South America they are found in great abundance, and when 
they light upon a carcass, which they have liberty to feed on 
at their ease, they so gorge themselves that they are unable to 



58 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 

fly, but keep hopping along on the ground when pursued. 
At all times it is a bird of slow flight, and when thoroughly 
gorged, is utterly helpless. 

There are several varieties of the vulture, all of which so 
closely resemble each other in manners and habits, as to re- 
quire no particular notice. The condor, however, which be- 
longs to the vulture tribe, is remarkable for its immense size, 
and is doubtless much the largest of all birds that are capable 
of flight. It also possesses all the qualities which render it 
formidable to other animals, and even to man himself. It is 
said to be eighteen feet across the wings, its beak is so strong 
as to pierce the body of a cow, and two of them are able to 
devour her at a meal. It is supposed that the great bird called 
the rock, described by the Arabian writers, and so much ex- 
aggerated by fable, is but a species of the condor. 

The vulture is mentioned in the ceremonial law as among 
the unclean birds, (Lev. xi. 14. Deut. xiv. 13.) and is also 
referred to by the prophet Isaiah, as an emblem of desolation, 
(Isaiah xxxiv. 15.) 

Whale"F Of the whale, properly so called, there are several 
different species, but .tli£,iwo principal divisions are the com- 
mon or Greenland whale, and the spermaceti whale. 

The great Greenland whale is the animal, for the taking of 
which such extensive preparations are made in the different 
ports of Europe and America. It is a large heavy animal, and 
the head is a third part of its bulk. It is usually found from 
sixty to seventy feet long. The tail is about twenty-four feet 
broad, and when it lies on one side, a blow from it is tremen- 
dous. The skin is smooth and black, and in some places 
marbled with white and yellow, which, running over the 
surface, has a very beautiful effect. The cleft of the mouth 
is above twenty feet long, which is about one-third of the ani- 
mal's whole length, and the upper jaw is furnished with barbs 
that lie like the pipes of an organ, the greatest in the middle, 
and the smallest on the sides, these compose the whalebone, 
the longest of which are not less than eighteen feet. The 
eyes are not larger than those of an ox, and placed towards 
the back of the head, which enables them to see both before 
and behind, and they appear to be very sharp sighted. 

As these animals breathe the air, it is obvious that they 
cannot remain a great length of time under water. They are 
constrained, therefore, every two or three minutes, to come up 
to the surface to take breath, as well as to spout out through 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 59 

their nostril, for they have but one, the water they have suck- 
ed in while gaping for their prey. 

The cachalot, or spermaceti whale, is not of such enormous 
size as the Greenland whale; it does not exceed sixty feet in 
length, and sixteen in depth, and being more slender is also 
more active than the common whale. The head of the 
spermaceti, is even larger than the common whale, being 
equal to one-half the bulk of the animal. This species of 
whale is the most sought after, and is by far the most valu- 
able, as it contains two important drugs, spermaceti and am- 
bergris. 

To enter into a detail of the mode in which these animals 
are captured, or to give a minute account of the whale fishery, 
though very interesting, does not comport with our object; we 
would only notice, therefore, that when the ships which are 
fitted out for this purpose arrive at the proper location, the 
whale is pursued by boats, containing a number of men, armed 
with harpoons, to which a rope is attached, and being struck 
as often as it comes up to breathe, it at length expires under 
repeated wounds. 

The whale is several times mentioned in the Scriptures. 
In the account of the creation, it is said that " God created 
great whales" on the fifth day. (Gen. i. 21.) When Job, 
during his distress and great affliction, addressed the Almighty, 
he says, " am I sea or a whale, that thou settest a watch over 
me." (Job, vii. 12.) Ezekiel compares the powerful and cruel 
king of Egypt, to a young lion, and a whale. (Ezek. xxxii. 2.) 

It is generally believed, that the great fish by which Jonah 
was so miraculously preserved, was a whale, (Jonah, i. 17.) 
and our Lord in speaking of this event, (Matt. xii. 40.) calls 
it so. It has been disputed, however, whether the "great fish" 
was really a whale or not, and is denied by some, because 
there are no whales in the Mediterranean sea, where this event 
occurred, and because the throat of a whale is too small to 
swallow a man. To us neither of these reasons present the 
least difficulty, as it is altogether probable that whales did fre- 
quent the Mediterranean in the early periods of the world, be- 
fore so many great ships were constantly ploughing its sur- 
face, and though the throat of the whale is too small to swal- 
low a man, yet when we consider that the head, and conse- 
quently the mouth, in some species of the whale, is equal to 
half the animal, it would certainly be no great stretch of words 
to say that the whale swallowed Jonah, though he *did not 
actually pass into the stomach of the animal. 



60 



SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



Wolf. This is one of those animals whose appetite for 
animal food is the most vehement, and whose means of satis- 
fying that appetite, are the most various. Nature has furnished 
him with strength, with cunning, with agility, and all those 
requisites, in a word, which fit an animal for pursuing, overta- 
king and conquering its prey; and yet with all these the wolf 
not unfrequently dies of hunger, for he is the declared enemy 
of man. Being long proscribed, and a reward offered for his 
head, he is obliged to fly from the habitations of man, and to 
live in the forest, where the few wild animals to be found, 
escape him either by their swiftness or their art, or are supplied 
in too small a proportion to satisfy his rapacity. When pressed 
with hunger, however, he braves danger, and attacks those 
animals which are under the protection of man, parti* 
lambs and sheep, which arc its favourite prey. 

The wolf, both externally and hv !'>. so nearly resem- 
bles the dog, that they seem formed on the ^aie plan, but in 
their dispositions they are entirely unlike ; the T " when 
tamed, seldom showing any of th ^r 1 - 

ness to his master, which so str 
faithful animal. 

The wolf is usually, wh 
feet in height, and three and a hair jrom tne nobw . 
The head is long, and more pointed than the dog, tne ears 
erect, and the eyes lively and fierce. The tail is long and bushy, 
and bends down towards the legs, the hair is of a grayish yel- 
low colour, with a dark stripe on the f^^a legs, but in some 
climates the colour is nearly black. 

The allusions to the wolf in the Scriptures, correspond with 
the history given of him by naturalists. His fierceness and 
cruelty are the dispositions chiefly referred to. He is fre- 
quently mentioned in the Scriptures, and appears to have 
abounded in Palestine and the neighbouring countries. (Gen. 
xlix, 27. Matt. vii. 15.) 






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